Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week


Some readers might have seen that the two nominees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had their nominations clear the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee earlier this week.   The vote for the Republican nominee Sharon Fast Gustafson was along party lines, 13 - 10.  The vote for the renomination of current Democratic Commissioner Charlotte Burrows advanced 23 - 0.  Both nominees headed to the Senate for a final vote, in which they were both confirmed yesterday before Congress left for its August recess.  While that was newsworthy, I wanted to spend time looking at a few other developments this week that made headlines.

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


Bipartisan Paid Leave Proposal Introduced in Congress

This past Tuesday, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema introduced a proposal that could garner support from both sides of the aisle.  Under the proposal from the Republican and Democratic Senators, parents would have the option to receive $5,000.00 up front for child care which would in turn be borrowed against their future child tax credits.  (In exchange for the $5,000.00, parents would receive a reduced rate of $1,500.00/year for 10 years in child tax credits.)  As Senator Cassidy noted, parents could use this $5,000.00 for diapers or help pay for someone to care for their child if the parent has to return to work.  With paid leave continuing to remain a hot button issue, it will be interesting to see if this legislation gains much traction.


Number of Anonymous Workplace Harassment Lawsuits Spikes

Bloomberg Law published an article at the start of the week which reported that during the current #MeToo era, there has been a sharp increase in the number of anonymous workplace harassment suits filed.  The number of anonymous suits more than doubled from 2017 to 2018 with many speculating that by the end of 2019, the number of anonymous suits filed will equal last year.  Given the hesitancy of many victims to come forward with their real name (for fear of being criticized, retaliated against, etc.), it should not come as much of a surprise that there has been a sharp increase in the number of anonymous workplace harassment suits recently.


Unfair Labor Practice Charge Filed Against Sanders' Presidential Campaign

In late July, an unnamed individual (who many speculate was at one time a campaign staffer), filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.  The charge identifies seven different instances of alleged unfair labor practices, including allegations that the Sanders' campaign terminated employees for joining or supporting a union as well as a claim that the campaign improperly interrogated employees about their union activities.  The above link is to a copy of the redacted charge itself.  Well worth a review for those looking for more information.


Paid Leave & the 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates

Readers might have watched one (or both nights) of the Democratic Presidential debates earlier this week.  Others might have intentionally avoided it altogether.  Regardless of your (lack of) interest in the debates, paid leave is sure to be a hot button issue on the campaign trail during both the primary and the general election.  Politico has a breakdown of how twenty of the Democratic candidates for President stand on the issue of paid leave.  For those looking for a concise breakdown of the position on the matter from each candidate, look no further.

Comments

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,...

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

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. ...