On May 27, 2025, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker signed the Protect Our Workers, Enforce Rights Act (POWER Act). The ordinance, found here, aims to enhance protections related to paid sick leave, wage theft, and domestic...more
6/25/2025
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Penalties ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
On June 5, 2025, a unanimous Supreme Court eliminated the requirement for a higher evidentiary standard for majority plaintiffs (white, male, heterosexual, etc.) who claim discrimination under Title VII (also known as reverse...more
6/18/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Ames v Ohio Department of Youth Services ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Evidentiary Standards ,
Job Promotions ,
Judicial Authority ,
McDonnell Douglas Formula ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Title VII
The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) – an association of several hundred employers and employer associations – sent letters to US Attorney General Pam Bondi to direct the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to...more
5/14/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
First Amendment ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions
On October 7, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) top prosecutor issued a memo to NLRB regional offices, solidifying the hard line her office will take on noncompete and “stay-or-pay” agreements and calling for...more
ATS Tree Services, LLC (“ATS”) has voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit it filed in April 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Non-Compete...more
What’s next for employers who want to protect their businesses from competition from departing employees, including the loss of customers, employees, and confidential information? With a federal court injunction against the...more
As we previously reported, here, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Final Rule on April 23, 2024 that would prevent most employers from enforcing non-compete agreements against workers, effective September 4, 2024...more
7/15/2024
/ Competition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Restrictive Covenants
The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued its final regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), providing explanation and guidance for employers in implementing the PWFA in their workplaces and...more
6/6/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation
As we previously reported, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to issue a final rule (the “Rule”) that would prevent most employers from enforcing noncompete agreements against workers, with only limited exceptions for...more
5/20/2024
/ Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements
Last week, on April 17, 2024, the US Supreme Court unanimously held in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri, et al., that an employee challenging a job transfer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)...more
4/26/2024
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Transfers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Lateral Transfers ,
Muldrow v City of St Louis ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to issue a final rule that would prevent most employers from enforcing noncompete agreements against workers, with only limited exceptions for existing noncompetes with senior...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
On March 8, 2024, a Texas federal district court vacated the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) 2023 joint employer rule (“2023 Rule), and restored the 2020 joint employer rule (“2020 Rule”)....more
3/13/2024
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Final Rules ,
Franchises ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Texas ,
Vacated
Summary -
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently announced settlements with a number of companies whose separation agreements or internal policies the SEC viewed as impeding employees’ participation in the...more
10/5/2023
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Former Employee ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Separation Agreement ,
Settlement ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On August 18, 2023, in Hamilton v. Dallas County, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed decades of precedent by broadening the standard for what constitutes an actionable adverse employment action....more
Summary -
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have taken steps to update the Merger Guidelines and overhaul the premerger notification process, each with a sharpened focus on the effect a...more
On May 1, in its Lion Elastomers decision, the Board overruled Trump-era precedent (General Motors) that made it easier for employers to discipline workers for outbursts in the context of workplace activism and union-related...more
The focus remains on the National Labor Relations Board’s (Board or NLRB) ruling in February that asking employees to sign separation agreements with confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses is unlawful. Most recently,...more
Last month, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that an employer violates Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) when the employer offers employee severance agreements with provisions...more
Companies impacted by the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure may be concerned about their ability to meet immediate payroll obligations as they await funds from government regulators. Despite regulatory assurances that funds...more
On Monday of last week, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law the “Paid Leave for All Workers Act” (Act) which establishes a minimum paid leave standard for all workers in Illinois, with the exception of certain...more
Companies impacted by the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure may be concerned about their ability to meet immediate payroll obligations as they await funds from government regulators. Despite regulatory assurances that funds...more
On February 24, 2023 the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held that a former employee’s arbitration agreement with his former employer was unenforceable under the Ending Forced Arbitration of...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that an employer violates Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act when the employer uses employee severance agreements with provisions restricting employees’...more
Earlier this month, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed into law the “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act” for the purpose of protecting individuals from discrimination and retaliation in...more
Summary -
On December 29, 2022, as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Spending Bill, President Biden signed into law two pieces of legislation that will benefit pregnant and nursing mothers—the Pregnant Workers Fairness...more