Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week


I know that some readers deal with ERISA claims and issues more often than they would like.  For others, ERISA is an area they actively avoid.  Regardless of your stance, a case pending in the Ninth Circuit that I have highlighted below is worth a review.  Given that it is somewhat interwoven with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision from a few weeks ago, this Ninth Circuit case is worth reviewing while we await the Court's ruling.

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


Missouri Legislature Approves August Vote on Right to Work Measure

Readers will recall that after a right to work bill was signed into law in Missouri, pro-union groups mobilized and collected enough signatures to place the measure on the ballot for voters to decide whether the state would remain the 28th right to work state or of the bill would be prevented from going into effect.  Recently, the Missouri Legislature approved moving a vote on the right to work bill from the November ballot to this coming August.  Critics had called this an unfair attempt by Republcans in the state to influence the vote, as the general election vote in November was expected to have higher turnout (compared to August) and could potentially give pro-union groups a better chance of preventing the right to work measure from taking effect.  Nevertheless, after the Senate approved moving the vote to August 7th, the House followed suit and approved the change in dates.  Given the prevalent spending, on both sides, in anticipation of a November vote, it will be interesting to see how much both sides ramp up spending with only a little over two months until voters head to the polls.


Could a Ninth Circuit Case Jeapordize Arbitration of ERISA Agreements?

After the U.S. Supreme Court recently held that employers may include a class action waiver in arbitration agreements without violating the National Labor Relations Act, I thought this would be a good time to note a relevant ERISA case in the Ninth Circuit.  That case, Munro v. University of Southern California, addresses whether a class action waiver in an arbitration agreement is enforceable to prevent a class action claim brought on behalf of the plan under Section 502(a)(2) of ERISA.  While the Court just heard arguments in the case a few weeks ago, there is some question over whether the Ninth Circuit will follow the ruling from the Supreme Court and apply it to the ERISA matter in Munro.  Stay tuned.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo
Post a Comment
Read more

Happening Tomorrow: Connecticut’s Minimum Wage Increases

For those employers and employees alike in Connecticut, mark your calendars as tomorrow, the minimum wage rate increases in the state from $13/hour to $14/hour. This wage hike comes after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont had signed Public Act 19-4 into law in 2019 which progressively raised the state’s hourly minimum wage rate every year for five years.  In fact, next year, the hourly wage rate will top out at $15/hour.  Beginning in January of 2024, the hourly wage rate will be indexed to the employment cost index. For additional information:   https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Reminds-Residents-That-Minimum-Wage-Is-Scheduled-To-Increase-on-Friday
Post a Comment
Read more

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa
Post a Comment
Read more