Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week


Given the recent vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, and the potential replacements which were reported to include Judges Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Raymond Kethledge, there has been significant attention given to the prior rulings by these Judges in an effort to glean any sort of insight into how they might rule, should they be confirmed by Congress.  Robin Shea has great articles that I enjoy reading through and her article from last Friday on the actual nominee to the high court (and some of his prior cases) is well worth a quick read.

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


Boston Symphony Orchestra Flutist Files Equal Pay Lawsuit

Last week, a day after the new Massachusetts Equal Pay Law went into effect, a principal flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra ("BSO") sued on the grounds that the BSO discriminated against her on the basis of her gender by paying her a wage that was substantially less than other comparable males.  The flutist, Elizabeth Rowe, is currently the highest paid female principal player in the BSO and has been profiled as a soloist with the BSO 27 times since she was hired in 2004.  The suit alleged that one comparable male was reported to have earned about $280,000.00 in recent years, while Rowe was paid about $70,000.00 less.  In fact, the BSO's three other highest paid musicians are all male.  This suit is noticeable in so much that it appears to be the first gender pay equity claim filed under the new Massachusetts Equal Pay Law.  It will be interesting to see how this one plays out once the BSO responds to the suit.


A Closer Look at President Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee’s Employment & Labor Law Rulings

Robin Shea wrote a great series of articles recently that touched on some of the "finalists" for the recent vacancy on the United States Supreme Court and what their prior rulings on employment & labor law cases might foreshadow if they were placed on the high court.  Spoiler alert though, earlier this week, President Donald Trump formally nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy left by Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement.  In this particular article, Judge Kavanaugh's prior rulings on several relevant cases include findings that:  1) an employer's onetime use of a racially inflammatory word can create a valid claim for a hostile work environment; 2) when an employer has ample legitimate, non-retaliatory reasons to fire an employee, that does not amount to a "pretext" for discrimination; 3) there is no right to union representation in peer review interviews; and 4) a union policy that members that wanted to resign from the union or stop having their dues automatically deducted from their paychecks be required to come to the union office with a photo ID and a written request was coercive and illegal.

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,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking: Labor Secretary Rumored to Be Leaving Administration

A few hours ago, word leaked out that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (“Walsh”) is in the midst of negotiations to head up the NHL Players Union and leave his position at the Labor Department. Walsh, who has served as the sole Labor Secretary under President Biden, has taken part in a labor renaissance of sorts as support for organized labor has increased during his term as Labor Secretary (although the number of workers that have joined a union over the past two years has not grown as mush as some expected.)  He has also overseen the ongoing negotiations with rail workers over a new contract, although that matter is still on shaky ground and playing out as we speak. As for who might step into the vacant Labor Secretary role, there are already rumblings that President Biden should nominate Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su (a strong labor advocate) or even a progressive like Senator Bernie Sanders.  Until Walsh officially gives his notice, however, I would expect some/many potential...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Vetoes Minimum Wage Hike

A few months ago, readers might remember that I pointed out that the New Jersey Legislature had voted to approve a minimum wage hike in the state .  Under the approved legislation, the minimum wage rate would rise to $10.10/hour in the next year and at least $15/hour over the next five.  (The current minimum wage rate in the state is $8.38/hour).  In that article, I had noted that the bill was then going to go before Governor Chris Christie for his approval or veto. As I had suggested previously, I thought that the Governor would likely veto the bill based upon his prior actions and comments on similar legislation.  Well, a few days ago, Governor Christie did just that and vetoed the bill on the grounds that it "would trigger an escalation of wages that will make doing business in New Jersey unfathomable."  Pointing to the increase in hourly minimum wage rates, the Governor referred to the bill as a "really radical increase."  (It is interesting to c...
Post a Comment
Read more