The Majority Opinion: Legal Blog

Corbin v. Time Warner Entertainment-Advance/Newhouse Partnership - Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Facts :  Andre Corbin ("Corbin") worked for Time Warner at one of its call centers in California.  After May 4, 2010, employees were to use an online timekeeping system to keep track of their hours worked.  At the time, Time Warner had a "rounding" policy in place.  As a result, all employees (including Corbin) had their clock-ins and clock outs rounded to the nearest quarter hour.  Since the implementation of the timekeeping system, Corbin gained compensation or broke even 58% of the time.  However, based upon an agreement by both Corbin and Time Warner, as a result of the rounding policy, Corbin lost $15.02 in wages from May 5, 2010 to his resignation on June 15, 2011.   Corbin subsequently filed a claim on the grounds that Time Warner's rounding policy deprived him of the full amount of his earned wages (specifically, overtime compensati...

Some readers might be avid tennis fans.  Some may have happened to notice the start of the French Open on Sunday in Paris.  Others may simply be interested in the continuing dialogue over equal pay.  Well, I have some good news:  This topic covers all those high points. In comments to The New York Times earlier this month, Madrid Open owner, Ion Tiriac, suggested that his tennis tournament might look to move away from equal pay for male and female players.  In his comments to the Times , Tiriac stated that while female players may deserve more (in pay), it is important to calculate how much money male and female tennis players actually put on the table.  In his view, female players are not bringing in as much revenue as male players and therefore might not be "entitled" to equal pay going forward.  Tiriac went so far as to state he could struggle to pay equal prize money in future tournaments:  "If I increase the women's [pay], too, I am...

A few months ago, I pointed readers to an equal pay bill that was sitting on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's desk .  That bill, which passed both chambers of the state's legislature would have banned employers from paying women less for "substantially similar" work as men and would have allowed differing pay rates between genders only if employers could prove it was based on something besides sex (such as education, experience, performance, etc.).   One of the concerns with this equal pay bill is that under the language passed by the state legislature, women would be paid equally if they were doing the same tasks in a different role.  Compare this with most equal pay bills which require equal pay for the exact same work. I had expressed my skepticism about whether the Governor would sign this legislation into law as he had vetoed two similar bills previously.  It turns out, I was right.  Governor Christie vetoed the legislation on the ground...

To the surprise of few, minimum wage has continued to be a hot button issue.  With Donald Trump recently shifting his position on the issue, I think it is likely the topic will remain a centerpiece of the Presidential campaigns through November.  On that note, I wanted to highlight a few recent developments across the country on the issue. As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week. Cleveland City Council to Consider Minimum Wage Hike From the NBC affiliate in Cleveland, it has been reported that the Cleveland City Council is to consider a petition that requests a minimum wage hike in the city.  The petition seeks $15/hour, up from Ohio's current minimum wage rate of $8.10/hour.  Stay tuned as this one progresses. The Continued Fight For Workers in Seattle to Actually Receive the Right Minimum Wage Heidi Groover over at the Stranger has an in depth note on the struggle among some minimum wage workers in Seattle to actually rece...

Today, the Department of Labor finalized new overtime regulations that will impact countless workers in the United States.  Under current regulations, individuals that are classified as executives and managers are exempt from overtime regulations.  As well, salaried workers do not have to be paid overtime if they make at least $23,660.00 per year (which amounts to $455.00 per week).   With the Department of Labor's new overtime regulations, effective December 1, 2016, the salary threshold at which white collar workers are exempt from overtime pay will be raised to $47,476.00 per year (or $913 per week).  (Meaning that if a white collar worker makes less than $47,476.00 per year, they will likely be entitled to time and a half overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 per week).  Note, this threshold will be updated every three years and be tied to a segment of salaried workers in the lowest income region of the United States.  According to the ...

Medical marijuana is one of the emerging labor & employment topics that is starting to show up in workplaces across the country (along with transgender matters).  In the Northeast, both Pennsylvania and Ohio are at the forefront of the issue as both states have either legalized medical marijuana (Pennsylvania) or appear close to doing so (Ohio).  The question then inevitably turns to how this impacts employers and employees in each state. In Pennsylvania, the state is set to legalize medical marijuana after the state legislature passed Senate Bill No. 3 and Governor Tom Wolf is expected to sign it into law.  Under the law, as it relates to medical marijuana in the workplace, employers in the state will be prohibited from discharging, threatening, refusing to hire or otherwise discriminating or retaliating against an employee on the basis of that employee's status as a person certified to use medical marijuana.  Before employers start to get worried, the la...

Earlier this week I pointed readers to the settlement of two class action suits filed against Uber.  However, a new suit was recently filed against the company on behalf of all U.S. Uber drivers (who are not in Massachusetts and California...as those drivers were involved in the prior two class actions).  This new suit alleges that Uber misclassified its drivers as independent contractors, failed to pay overtime wages and compensation, owes its drivers expense reimbursement and failed to turn over gratuities.  I think it is appropriate to lead off this post with an article dedicated to that topic. As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week. A Closer Look at the New Lawsuit Filed Against Uber Erik Sherman over at Forbes has a good look at the recent lawsuit filed against Uber.  Sherman, who wrote an update on the pending settlement of the prior two class actions, breaks down the basics of what this new suit seeks.  As he wri...