The Majority Opinion: Legal Blog

Back in April, I had noted that the Department of Labor issued a publication of the new "Persuader Rule" .  That rule would require extensive disclosures from employers or consultants to report any arrangement to persuade employees in regard to the right to organize or collectively bargain.  Many in the labor field were taken aback by the far reaching impact this new rule would have.   At the time, I pointed out that several cases had been filed to contest the Persuader Rule.  Earlier this week, a federal judge in the Northern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction that blocks the implementation of the Persuader Rule...for the time being.  In the order, the Court wrote that the National Federation of Independent Business (among other plaintiffs) that had filed suit to challenge the rule were likely to succeed on their claims that the Department of Labor exceeded its authority and promulgated a rule that was arbitrary, vague, and violated fe...

Earlier this year, West Virginia became the 26th right to work state after the Republican controlled state legislature overrode the Democratic Governor's veto of the legislation.  (The right to work law would allow employees in union shops to opt out of paying union dues.)  The new law, known as the "Workplace Freedom Act", is set to go into effect on July 1, 2016.  However, on Monday, eleven state labor unions filed suit to challenge the right to work bill.  The labor unions argued that the right to work law is an illegal taking of union property and resources as it allegedly enables nonmembers of unions to get union services for free. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.  Something tells me this is not the last challenge we will see to the new right to work law in the state... For additional information:  http://wvpublic.org/post/labor-unions-file-lawsuits-challenging-right-work-law

Late last week, the New Jersey Legislature approved a bill that would raise the minimum wage rate in the state to $15/hour by 2021.  In doing so, the bill now goes to Governor Chris Christie for his approval or (expected) veto. Readers might remember that last month, Governor Christie vetoed an equal pay bill .  Many who follow politics in New Jersey expect Governor Christie will also veto this minimum wage bill on the grounds that a $15/hour minimum wage rate in the state would hinder New Jersey's economy and potentially kill job growth.  This is not anything out of the ordinary when it comes to arguments against the Fight for $15 movement.   I would certainly expect Governor Christie will veto this bill as he has had somewhat of a pro business leaning over the years.  While this minimum wage hike would impact nearly 1 million workers in New Jersey, I would expect the Governor to point to the fact that since New York State passed legislation to ...

Busy week of travel so I unfortunately had little time to read through articles.  With that being said, I did come across two great articles that I think readers will enjoy. As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.   Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds NLRB's Ambush Election Rule As The National Law Review writes, earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued s ruling in which it upheld the NLRB's ambush election rule.  Readers might remember that rule which came into effect in April of last year.  In part, the ambush election rule shortens the time period between the filing of a union election petition and the election itself.  This isn't the first time a court of appeals has upheld the ambush election rule.  Something tells me it won't be the last time a court of appeals considers the issue either. Senator Bernie Sanders Pays Interns $12/Hour The Washington Free Beacon has a somewhat hum...

Yesterday, it was announced that lawmakers in the District of Columbia had unanimously approved a measure to raise the minimum wage in the District from the current hourly wage rate of $10.50 to $15.00 by 2020.  Note, this increase will impact approximately 77,000 hourly workers in he District.  While the hourly wage rate was already set to go to $11.50 this July, this approved measure will raise the hourly wage rate by about $.70 over the next few years.  As with other states and cities that have approved minimum wage hikes, once the hourly wage rate hits $15/hour in 2020, further increases will be automatic and tied to inflation.   It goes without saying that is a huge development on the minimum wage front.  After both New York and California approved $15/hour wage rates across both states earlier this year, Washington D.C. jumps in as one of the 'leaders' at the forefront of this issue. Although, note, that for tipped workers, the hourly wage rat...

Heffernan v. City of Paterson, New Jersey - United States Supreme Court Facts :  Jeffrey Heffernan ("Heffernan") worked as a police officer in Paterson, New Jersey.  Heffernan worked in the office of the Chief of Police who supported the incumbent mayor who was up for re-election.  Heffernan's mother supported the mayor's challenger and asked her son to pick up a sign supporting the challenger.  When Heffernan went to get the sign and talked to campaign staff of the mayor's challenger, other members of the police force saw him doing so and reported Heffernan to the Chief of Police.  The next day, Heffernan's supervisors demoted him from detective to patrol officer and assigned him to a "walking post".  This was apparently done to punish Heffernan for what his supervisors thought was "overt involvement" in the challenger's campaign for mayor.  (However, Heffernan was simply picking up the sign for his mother and was not involved i...

Shorter week in the office, but I still found some time to read through a couple good articles.  In particular, the update on the extension of the time limit in which to file a constructive discharge claim was an interesting development. As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week. Time Limit Extended For Constructive Discharge Claims to Be Filed Jon Hyman over at The Ohio Employer Law Blog has a good note on a recent United States Supreme Court case that has extended the time limit for when a constructive discharge claim must be filed.  Field trip version of the Court's ruling:  The statute of limitations begins to run when the employee resigns.  But take a few minutes to read through Jon's thoughts on the ruling...well worth it for the additional analysis he gives. English Only Policies in the Workplace The American Bar Association has previously written an article on whether English only policies are enforceable in the wor...