» wage theft
Slim Supreme Court majority again uses arbitration clauses to thwart robust enforcement of workplace rights
May 1st, 2019
Five Justices of the Supreme Court reversed both the District Court and the Court of Appeals in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela to rule that the right to pursue class action claims through arbitration must be clear. In Lamps Plus, an employee (Mr. Frank V…
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Categories: Blog
Trump’s DOL and NLRB continue to pursue policies that evidently favor corporations over people
April 9th, 2019
For starters, a little context is in order. During the Obama Administration, both the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) and the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) reinforced the legal standard for proving that two supposedly sepa…
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Categories: Blog
Another contrived government shutdown compromises enforcement of workplace protections
January 1st, 2019
After making a number of threats over the past year, the Trump Administration recently imposed a Federal government shutdown with no end in sight. The Trump Administration has forced the shutdown in an effort to extract money for the construction and…
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Categories: Blog
Predictions for 2019 . . . the certainty of uncertainty
December 17th, 2018
The seemingly ongoing and escalating controversies at the Federal level make the legal environment somewhat unpredictable. If current trends persist, however, the Trump Administration will continue to attempt to limit workplace protections and relate…
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Categories: Blog
Mid-term election results mean the potential for more workplace rights and protections
November 12th, 2018
In Minnesota and across the nation, progressive and other pro-employee candidates won many of the elections at the Local, State, and even Federal levels. That outcome could mean more workplace fairness – whether through agency enforcement actions,…
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Categories: Blog
By the slimmest majority, the Supreme Court turns its back on working people and the public interest yet again
July 2nd, 2018
In another sharply divided opinion, the United States Supreme Court again disregarded decades of settled law to undercut workplace rights. In Janus v. AFSCME, 5 Justices of the Supreme Court declared that employees in the public sector no longer need…
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Categories: Blog
Supreme Court and Congress act in the same week to undercut the rule of law
June 1st, 2018
In Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the United States Supreme Court recently declared that employees can be forced to give up their rights to participate in class actions or collective actions when they face wage theft, retaliation, discrimination, haras…
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Categories: Blog
Politicized Supreme Court, by a slim majority, again sides with corporations
May 1st, 2018
By a 5-4 margin, the United States Supreme Court opted to deviate from over 70 years of clearly established legal precedent to make it more difficult to hold employers accountable for wage theft. In that case, Encino Motocars, LLC v. Navarro, the 5-p…
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Categories: Blog
The handouts for corporations continue
February 5th, 2018
After pushing through a tax law that will cause a dramatic transfer of wealth to the richest individuals and largest corporations, the Trump administration is now evidently seeking to take more money out of the pockets of ordinary Americans. In parti…
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Categories: Blog
Federal tax “reform” will deform the economy and undercut workplace rights and other core protections
January 1st, 2018
Without any public hearings, Congress rushed to pass a tax “reform” law that will likely cause the largest redistribution of wealth in the nation’s history. In particular, tax rates for country’s most wealthy individuals and corporations will…
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