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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

 

Some readers might have watched the confirmation hearings this week for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court Justice nominee, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett.  As Judge Barrett spent a good portion of the week answering questions from Senators as to why she should be confirmed to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there were not any “major” smoking guns or shocking revelations.  However, with many predicting that Judge Barrett will be confirmed to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat, I think it is a good time to look at how she might rule on labor and employment law related cases (based upon her prior rulings in relevant Seventh Circuit Cases.)

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


How Might a Justice Amy Coney Barrett Rule, If Confirmed?

HRDive published an article recently in which it weighed how a Justice Amy Coney Barrett might rule on labor and employment law related matters, if confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.  While she only has three years experience on the bench and there are not a long line of cases to give us a “crystal ball” look into the future, it is widely suspected she might tend to favor employers in labor and employment disputes.  Of course, some Supreme Court Justices end up taking a different stance on issues once they get confirmed (compared to what was expected prior to confirmation.)  With that being said, this article is well worth a read.


Amazon Tech Workers Petition For Paid Time Off to Vote

A few thousand tech workers at Amazon have recently launched a petition asking the company to provide paid time off to vote.  (Readers might remember that paid time off, or lack thereof, is a hot topic leading up to the November 3rd election.)  Amazon has responded by pointing its employee to refer to the laws in place (depending the state) as to how request time off to vote and whether paid time off is offered.  Something tells me that this petition likely will not lead Amazon to implement a company wide policy to provide paid time off and will instead continue to defer to what each state stipulates.  Nevertheless, it is worth watching to see if this petition gains nationwide traction leading up to November 3rd.

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