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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

 

Rounding out a shorter week, I found a couple articles worth highlighting.  In particular, I call attention to a development at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which has the potential to dramatically impact how the agency (and its general counsel) litigate matters going forward.

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


Restaurant Owners, Rising Labor Costs, & Staying Afloat

Jaya Saxena at Eater wrote an article recently that took stock among some restaurant owners in regard to how they were managing to pay their employees a living wage while also juggling increasing menu prices (to the chagrin of some customers.)  It should come as no surprise that with many employers increasing pay rates for their employees (whether voluntarily or by local ordinance/statute), that has resulted in increasing prices on the menu to offset the rising labor costs.  I will refer readers to the article for a survey of how some of these employers have implemented the rising labor costs and the positive/negative results it has produced.  For many of these employers, however, increasing prices on menus is worth doing in order to stay afloat.


EEOC Considering Requiring Commission Vote Before General Counsel Could File Suit

In a somewhat novel situation, the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), Janet Dhillon, recently circulated a proposal which would require the approval of the five EEOC Commissioners before the EEOC’s General Counsel could file a lawsuit.  (Currently, the General Counsel is charged with filing lawsuits without needing the approval of the EEOC Commissioners.)  Of course, any cynic would look at this proposal and claim it was an attempt to hinder the incoming administration of Joe Biden from implementing and litigating its own EEOC agenda.  However, with Republican appointed EEOC Commissioners having a 3 - 2 majority control of the EEOC until 2022, this proposal is an attempt to stymie the incoming administration before it even takes office next month.  Will it work?  That is tough to say as similar proposals have been circulated over the years, including last year, without much success.  If this proposal gets approved, it will be a hard fought scrap to get there.

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