The Majority Opinion: Legal Blog

As with many employment and labor law related cases that are being litigated around the country, there are always a few that stand out.  This is one to keep an eye on. Facts :  Barbara Burrows ("Burrows") was a lesbian college professor and administrator at College of Central Florida ("CCF").  When CCF President Charles Dassance ("Dassance") hired Burrows, he knew she was a lesbian and had a partner.  Burrows initially received acceptable annual evaluations her first two years in the position and CCF renewed her contract each year.  However, Dassance began to receive complaints from faculty and staff about Burrows and her job performance.  Dassance was subsequently informed CCF would not renew her contract for another year.   CCF allowed Burrows to transfer to a teaching position in the math department, but she received about $40,000.00 less in salary in her new position.  Burrows subsequently filed grievances that she was entitled to additional

I came across a lot of great articles this week which made it tougher to narrow down.  With the recent announcement out of West Virginia in regard to its right to work legislation becoming effective on July 1, 2016, I thought leading this post off with a right to work article was appropriate.  It will be interesting to see who the 27th state will be that is able to pass right to work legislation.   As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week. Colorado Takes Steps Toward Becoming a Right to Work State The Denver Business Journal has a note on a recent vote by Republicans in the Colorado Senate to pass a bill that would make Colorado the 27th right to work state.  While Republicans in the Senate were able to approve the bill, the fact that the House is controlled by Democrats with a 34 - 31 majority means this legislation is likely going nowhere.  Short of a few Democrats switching sides and approving the right to work legislation, Colorado Republicans

Earlier this month, West Virginia became the 26th right to work state after the Republican controlled legislature overrode Democratic Governor Earl Ray Tomlin's veto of the legislation.  The "Workplace Freedom Act" is set to become effective on July 1, 2016. Readers might remember my post earlier this month on the topic, in which I noted it was only a matter of time before right to work laws became effective in West Virginia ( West Virginia on Verge of Becoming the Next Right to Work State ).  I would not call this development much of a surprise, considering the Republican controlled legislature had the necessary votes to overcome the Governor's veto (all that was needed to overcome the veto was a simple majority...and Republicans in West Virginia had numbers on their side).  What is perhaps most interesting is how fast Republicans were able to move this legislation through the House and Senate.  Remember, this was the first bill introduced in the 60 day legisl

Never let it be said that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has taken a laid back approach to pushing a $15/hour minimum wage in the state.  Earlier this week, it was announced that he would start a bus tour across the state and hold rallies in support of a minimum wage increase.  In fact, yesterday, his $15/hour minimum wage bus tour was set to make stops in Manhattan, the Bronx and Long Island to hold rallies in support of higher hourly wages.  In the coming weeks, the Governor is set to make appearances in upstate New York as well. Readers might remember that the Governor has taken the lead on $15/hour minimum wage fights across the state recently:  SUNY Workers to Receive $15/Hour Minimum Wage ; New York City Fast Food Workers to See $15/Hour Minimum Wage .   Whether touring the state in an RV to create buzz for a statewide $15/hour minimum wage rate yields any results is unclear.  But given how aggressive the Governor has been on the issue so far, he has shown the ability

Petrovic v. The Department of Employment Security - Supreme Court of Illinois Facts :  Zlata Petrovic ("Petrovic") worked for American Airlines ("American") from 1988 to 2012.  In early 2012, while working at O'Hare, Petrovic got a call from a friend at another airline.  The friend asked whether Petrovic could do something for a passenger scheduled to fly on American.  Petrovic requested a bottle of champagne be delivered to the passenger and got a flight attendant to upgrade the passenger from business class to first class.  A few weeks later, Petrovic was notified that he was terminated because she upgraded the passenger and requested the champagne without proper authorization. Petrovic applied for unemployment benefits, but American filed a protest.  A claims adjuster denied benefits to Petrovic on the grounds that she was discharged for misconduct connected to her work.  After Petrovic appealed an in investigation was done, benefits were still de

This turned into my first full week back in the office in the past several weeks.  With that being said, in between playing catch up and prepping cases for upcoming hearings over the next few weeks, I came across some good articles.  Perhaps most interesting was the article on attempts by Republicans in the Alabama House of Representatives to block minimum wage increases.  This bill still has to pass the Senate...but it is interesting to watch develop. As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week. Alabama Takes Steps to Block Minimum Wage Hikes It is not every day that I see states (or cities for that matter), take proactive steps to block minimum wage hikes.  With that being said, here comes Alabama, whose House of Representatives passed a bill 71 - 31 on Tuesday which would block cities from imposing minimum wage hikes.  As Cliff Sims writes, this legislation follows on the heels of a vote by the Birmingham City Council to increase minimum wage rates

Back in August, I highlighted a case for readers to keep an eye on, Frlekin v. Apple.  ( One to Keep An Eye On: Frlekin v. Apple ).  The case, pending before the United States District Court for Northern District of California dealt with whether employees could be compensated for time spent in security screening lines after leaving work for the day and after having already clocked out. Background :  In this case, a wage and hour class action was filed on the grounds that Apple employees were entitled to compensation for time spent undergoing mandatory security screenings pursuant to Apple's bag-search and technology-card search policies and for time spent waiting for the searches to occur.  According to Apple, these searches were conducted to see if Apple products were being pilfered by employees.   At issue was the fact that the employees had to clock out prior to undergoing the search and their recorded hours work did not account for the time spent being searched or

Alanis v. Metra - United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division Facts :  Elda Alanis ("Alanis") worked in the Office of Business Diversity and Civil Rights at Metra ("Metra").  A few years after she had been working there, she started to feel unwell and her doctors diagnosed her with several medical conditions.  When she returned to work, she began to have reactions to smells in the workplace such as odors from perfumes, food items, cleaning supplies, etc.  As a result, she requested an accommodation of a scent free workplace.  Metra granted the accommodation requested and instructed employees in the office not to use scented products.  However, several employees, including Alanis's supervisor continued to do so. Alanis brought suit against Metra and alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and the Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA").  Holding :  ( Note, this analysis focuse

On Tuesday, the New Hampshire primaries occurred.  After watching a few of the speeches after the results were announced, several candidates (Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders) discussed the importance of equal pay in the workplace for men and women.  As well, at the Democratic debate last night, Clinton again advocated for equal pay in her opening remarks. Given that this could become a hot button issue in the weeks and months ahead (along with minimum wage), I thought this would be a good time to dedicate the post to the topic. As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week. President Obama Takes Executive Action On Equal Pay   Late last month, President Obama signed two executive actions that will require companies with 100 or more employees to report to the government how much they pay their employees, broken down by race, gender, and ethnicity.  The White House published a " Fact Sheet " on the executive actions for those interested a

Readers might remember that I posted a recent update on the right to work legislation currently pending in the West Virginia Legislature.  ( West Virginia Senate Passes Right to Work Legislation ).  As I noted, the next step was for the West Virginia House to consider the bill, likely pass it, and then send it to the Governor's desk for signature. Late last week, the West Virginia House did just that and passed the right to work measure by a 54 - 46 vote.  To the surprise of no one, West Virginia Governor Early Ray Tomblin subsequently issued a veto threat of the legislation.  Assuming this happens, the legislation would go back to the Senate to consider.  Remember, to override the Governor's veto, the legislation requires only a majority vote.  With Republicans controlling a majority of the Senate, an override of the veto would be a mere formality.  (Of course, this is barring Republican Senators switching their votes and voting against an override.  However, something

Murphy v. Tuality Healthcare - United States District Court, District of Oregon Facts :  In May 2008, Dr. James Murphy ("Murphy") signed a Practice Development Agreement ("PDA") with Tuality Healthcare ("Tuality").  Under the PDA, Tuality provide Murphy with financial assistance to develop an anesthesiology practice.  In exchange, Murphy worked full time, five days a week at Tuality's hospital.   In June 2008, Murphy and Tuality entered into an Anesthesia Services Agreement ("ASA").  The ASA described Murphy as an "independent contractor" and the nature of the relationship between Murphy and Tuality was not that of employer-employee.  Murphy was in charge of paying his own taxes, billing patients for his services, and collecting payment from the patients.  Tuality provided Murphy with equipment, supplies, materials necessary to perform anesthesia work, and a quarterly stipend.  Although either party could terminate the re

ERISA issues are always very interesting to read about, given the often complex nature of the disputes.  Recently, the United States Supreme Court ruled on two ERISA issues that I wanted to highlight for readers.  The Bloomberg article breaks down the cases relatively well and includes links to the actual opinions...for those readers looking for a little "light" reading. As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week. United States Supreme Court Addressed Two ERISA Issues Recently For those interested in ERISA issues, Bloomberg had a good note on the United States Supreme Court's action on two recent cases on the matter.  One case, Montanile v. Bd. of Trs. of Nat'l Elevator Indus. Health Benefit Plan , resulted in a ruling that an employee benefit plan cannot assert a lien on a participant's settlement proceeds if the participant has already spent the amounts in question.  The second case, Amgen Inc. v. Harris , resulted in a short, un

Back in 2014, a New York Jets cheerleader brought a wage and hour class action suit against the team on the grounds that she (and other Jets cheerleaders) were not paid for attending practices, mandatory cheerleading camps, and other promotional appearances that Jets cheerleaders were required to take part.  In addition, the cheerleaders were apparently not reimbursed for travel expenses or mandatory hair & makeup "appearance" related requirements.  As a result, the Jets cheerleaders claimed they were only making $1.50 per hour when the additional expenses were factored in. Late last month, it was announced that the Jets agreed to a settlement of the class action.  Note, the settlement covers cheerleaders who participated during the 2012 - 2013 and 2013 - 2014 seasons.  These 52 cheerleaders will receive $2,500.00 per season they worked along with $400.00 for each photo shoot they worked.  With all the settlement payouts calculated, that comes to a total of $324,0

Back in December, I pointed readers to a recent development in West Virginia after Republicans in the state began to discuss whether to introduce right to work legislation.  ( Will West Virginia become the Next Right to Work State? ).  This came on the heels of a study that found several economic benefits associated with right to work laws which Republicans pointed to as evidence of why right to work legislation was needed in the state.  Unsurprisingly, several unions and their supporters spoke out against West Virginia becoming a right to work state and argued that the legislation would actually drive down wages and hinder economic development.  To support this argument, they pointed to the fact that since Oklahoma became a right to work state in 2001, the number of new companies moving into the state along with the manufacturing jobs in the state had fallen by a third.  With that being said, in early January, the West Virginia Legislature began its annual 60 day legislative s