On June 5, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision that continues to reinforce the importance of providing honest and accurate feedback to employees regarding employment decisions. Marlean Ames, a straight...more
For many years, employers have been operating within the confines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), and the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (“WFEA”) when a pregnant employee...more
2/10/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws
On November 15, 2024, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas struck down the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) 2024 overtime rule (“Overtime Rule”). This decision came months after the...more
Friday afternoon, a federal judge in Texas struck down the Department of Labor’s (“Department’s”) overtime rule (“Overtime Rule”) finding that the Overtime Rule exceeded the Department’s authority and was unlawful....more
As you know, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) previously issued a rule that would ban most employee noncompetes throughout the United States. See our previous updates NLRB Seeks Aggressive Enforcement Against Employers for...more
Today, a federal court judge in Dallas, Texas, ruled the Federal Trade Commission went too far in issuing its nationwide noncompete ban that was set to become effective September 4, 2024....more
On July 3, 2024, a federal judge in Texas granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit challenging the FTC’s noncompete ban. Notably, the injunction only applies to those plaintiffs named in the suit. All other employers...more
Late Monday afternoon, a federal judge in Texas denied a marketing firm’s motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the DOL’s new overtime rule. This denial affirms that, for now, employers, other than the State of Texas,...more
This past Friday, a Texas federal judge granted a preliminary injunction for the State of Texas, postponing the effective date of the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule. ...more
In today’s interconnected world, how to protect vital business assets such as key employees and confidential information is top of mind for businesses. Tools such as non-solicitation, non-compete and non-disclosure agreements...more
The New Form -
On July 21st the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new Form I-9. The new Form I-9 became available for employers to use on August 1, 2023. The old Form I-9 can continue to be...more
Dear Ruder, we are getting lots of long emails from various sources about this proposed noncompete ban. Can you please break this down in easy-to-read language so we don’t have to review the entire 216 pages of the FTC’s...more
The Speak Out Act (“Act”) became law on December 7, 2022. The Act prohibits the enforcement of non-disclosure or non-disparagement provisions which are agreed to prior to an allegation of sexual assault or sexual harassment...more
The Fair Labor Standards Act provides an employee should receive compensation for overtime hours at a rate “not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.” 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1). This is a...more
“Protecting the Farm” is a common phrase associated with succession planning but employment considerations are just as important in protecting an agribusiness. Employment considerations include how to protect confidential...more
Today the Supreme Court ordered that OSHA’s ETS be placed back on hold (a/k/a a “stay”) and sent back to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. In its order, the Court‘s majority noted the ETS may have gone too far because it...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear oral arguments on both the OSHA ETS vaccine mandate and the CMS vaccine mandate on January 7, 2022.
On December 17, 2021, we shared with you that the Fifth Circuit...more
CMS Mandate: At the beginning of December we informed you that a Federal Court in Louisiana issued a nationwide stay on enforcement of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) COVID-19 vaccination mandate. During...more
On Tuesday, December 7, a federal court in Georgia issued an order staying the vaccine mandate for federal contractors (“Mandate”). The Court ordered that the Defendants, which includes President Biden...more
A couple of weeks ago we alerted you regarding the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) COVID-19 vaccination mandates. Reports have emerged today that an injunction has been placed upon this CMS requirement...more
On November 16, 2021, a panel on multidistrict litigation announced that a panel of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit will hear the OSHA ETS litigation. All petitions that have been filed will...more
On November 6, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted OSHA’s latest ETS by issuing an order staying the ETS until the court can conduct a full review. BST Holdings v. OSHA (5th Cir 11/06/2021). The order...more
OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) is here! The ETS and related guidance can be found on its website. By December 5, 2021, employers must implement a vaccine policy in compliance with the ETS (choices are a hard...more
The Magic Language:
The Federal Acquisition Regulation Council (FAR Council) was charged with drafting contractual language to require compliance with the guidance from the SAFER Task Force (Guidance)...more
On Friday, September 24, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (Task Force) issued its COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors (Guidance) as directed by President Biden in an...more