The Majority Opinion: Legal Blog

Here we are, late in the day on the 31st as I put the finishing touches on this post.  As with any final post for the year, I wanted to note a few key developments over the past twelve months before we get to a few of the articles I wanted to highlight this week. There were some noteworthy developments at the local level, including Washington D.C. banning non-compete agreements , the West Hollywood City Council approving a premium pay ordinance for large grocery store employees , and  Orange County (Florida) enacting a ban the box measure . Granted, at the statewide level, there were also a few key topics that came about over the past year, including Arizona amending the Arizona Civil Rights Act to provide workplace protections for pregnant workers in the state , Illinois adding a new section to the Illinois Human Rights Act that makes it a civil rights violation for an employer to use an individual’s criminal record in any employment decision unless one of two narrow exceptio...

  As always, there are some EEOC cases that jump out at me when I review developments on that front.  Below are some EEOC cases and settlements that caught my eye this month.  Corning Alleged to Have Discriminated Against Female Process Assistants Recently, the EEOC filed suit against Corning, a technology company, on the grounds that the company sexually discriminated against female process assistants compared to their male counterparts.  The lawsuit alleges that Corning “grooms” male workers for advancement, provided them with training opportunities, and modifying rules for promotions, compared to similarly or more qualified women.  This alleged conduct is in violation of federal law which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Davis Autogroup to Settle Age Discrimination Claim For $390,000 An age discrimination lawsuit that was filed against Davis Autogroup has been settled with the company agreeing to pay $390,000.00 to resolve the claim.  Accord...

Earlier this month, the Portland City Council approved a $19.50/hour hazard pay minimum wage rate set to take effect January 1, 2022. As many readers might recall, the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading across the country.  Naturally, that has led to a rise in positive coronavirus cases being reported which has exacerbated an already stressed electorate and hourly workforce.  While some employers have provided an increased pay rate during the pandemic, Portland is going one step further by requiring employers in the city provide this hazard pay rate at the start of the new year. Notably, this hazard pay rate will go into effect given the declared emergency order issued by the City Council.  If/when the Omicron variant subsides, it is possible the City Council will declare the emergency order is no longer in effect which could impact this $19.50/hour hazard pay rate.  However, until that happens, employees on Portland should expect to benefit from this increased pay...

I will keep this post short as many readers are likely en route to someplace for Christmas (or are knee deep in gift wrapping.)  So while I could go on and on with a bit of a preamble here, I will just cut to the chase. As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week. Illinois Hourly Minimum Wage Rate Rises to $12/Hour in January For those unaware, there is a recurring minimum wage hike in Illinois after Governor J.B. Pritzker signed legislation into law in 2019 to raise the state’s hourly minimum wage rate to $15/hour by 2025.   The current hourly wage rate of $10/hour will increase to $12/hour on January 1st.  For those employers in the state that have not made plans to account for this increase in labor costs…now is as good of a time as any to do so. San Francisco Moves One Step Closer to Approving Paid Sick Leave For Nannies & Gardeners Earlier this month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a proposal that would provide...

Late breaking news in the latter part of the day has started to become somewhat routine as of late, no? Earlier this evening, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear arguments on January 7th in regard to President Joe Biden’s test or vaccine mandate for large scale employers as well as a challenge to a vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. Readers recall that there have been ongoing challenges to these mandates in recent weeks.  Of course, while there had been stays previously issued, these mandates are currently in place much to the confusion of employers and employees alike.  After all, these mandates had been issued, then stayed, and then put back in place.  (For healthcare workers, a stay still exists though for any healthcare worker at any facility that receives Medicare or Medicaid funds.)  Needless to say this has left many confused as to what is/is not required. With that being said, it will be interesting to see how these arguments play out before th...

Hobby Lobby recently announced that beginning January 1st, it would raise hourly pay rates for its employees from $17/hour up to $18.50/hour. The company is going one step further by also continuing to offer medical, dental, and prescription insurance, a 401(k), flexible scheduling, life insurance, paid time off, and an employee discount.  To call this wage hike by Hobby Lobby noteworthy is probably an understatement.  Nevertheless, readers will likely recall that with a tight labor market and big box retailers fighting amongst themselves for a small pool of available workers, this wage hike by Hobby Lobby sets the company apart from a lot of other employers.  While we have seen some employers offer to pay for tuition expenses of employees as a way to draw in (and retain) workers, Hobby Lobby’s generous compensation package along with this new wage hike certainly distinguishes the company. Of course, this inevitably makes me wonder what another big box retailer is going t...

Late last week, Boeing announced that it was dropping its coronavirus vaccine mandate for its employees, citing a recent federal court opinion that stayed President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors . This news from Boeing is somewhat surprising.  From reports, Boeing’s vaccine mandate was never overly popular in some circles.  In fact, nearly 9% of the company’s employees had applied for an exemption from the mandate.  However, Boeing had indicated it was carrying on with the mandate and there were no outside appearances that the mandate would be scrapped. Perhaps it took other employers, such as Amtrak , announcing it was scrapping its own vaccine mandate for employees for Boeing to follow suit.  Regardless, I think there will likely be other employers that follow Boeing’s lead and scrap their own vaccine mandates. For additional information:   https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-drops-vaccine-mandate-for-u-s-employe...