Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week


With a busy week of work, I had limited time to page through articles.  However, one article that touches on the initial impact of Janus v. AFSCME is fascinating and worth a read.  If I had to guess, I would say this is only the beginning of a prolonged downturn among public sector unions for the foreseeable future.

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


An Uphill Fight For Victims of Sexual Harrasment? Possibly

Lauren Edelman over at the Harvard Business Review, citing a string of relevant cases stretching back nearly half a century, opined that victims of sexual harassment are confronted with a seemingly insurmountable barrier when they file a sexual harassment suit against their employers.  While I do not necessarily agree with the entire scope of this theory, the cases cited by Edelman seem to establish a clear cut framework in which this barrier exists:  courts tend to view that an employer with anti-harassment policies in place and a mechanism for complaints to be filed is sufficient for an employer to avoid liability when confronted with these types of suits.  Is this theory full proof?  Hard to say, but this article is worth a read if for no other reason than to give readers a new perspective on the topic.


Montana Public Employee Unions Appear To Be a Casualty of Janus

Readers might recall that earlier this summer, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in Janus v. AFSCME.  That ruling was monumental in so much that it barred agency fees for public sector unions across the country.  (Prior to this ruling, unions could asses agency fees as a condition of employment.  These agency fees were deducted from the paychecks of both union and non-union employees to cover the cost of collective bargaining by the union).  After the Suprrme Court’s ruling, these unions feared their coffers would take a substantial hit since these agency fees could not longer be assessed.  Based upon this article from Montana Public Radio, it appears that out of state groups have started to provide Montana workers a clear cut guideline on how to withdraw from these agency fees (and even withdraw from the union itself).  While the specific amount of money some of the public sector unions in the state have lost as a result of these efforts following Janus is not clear, it appears to be quite substantial based upon various reports.  For now, public sector unions in Montana are taking a hit.  Something tells me this is only the beginning for public sector unions elsewhere in the country.  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,...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more