News & Analysis as of

Constitutional Challenges First Amendment Employee Rights

Cozen O'Connor

Facial Hair, Firefighters, and Free Exercise

Cozen O'Connor on

A single exception can now unravel your entire workplace safety policy. The Third Circuit's decision on May 30, 2025, in Smith v. Atlantic City, underscores how even minor exceptions to grooming or masking rules can expose...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

Federal Court Refuses to Dismiss Claims Brought Under Pennsylvania’s Criminal History Record Information Act (“CHRIA”)

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

Deivert v. Zartman and Borough of Northumberland, 2025 WL 83747 (M.D.Pa. 2025) - (Neither a municipality nor a municipal manager had immunity under the Pennsylvania Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act (“PPSTCA”) for the...more

Oppenheimer Investigations Group

MAGA Hats and Pronoun Disputes Test Workplace Speech Boundaries

The line between protected political speech and workplace disruption depends largely on who signs your paycheck. Public employees enjoy First Amendment protections that private sector workers lack, but even government...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Catholic Charity’s Religious Exemption From Wisconsin Unemployment Tax

Amundsen Davis LLC on

In a 9-0 decision authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which held that Catholic Charities Bureau Inc. (the “Charities) and its subsidiaries were not...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

North Carolina Bill Would Expand Workplace Violence Prevention Act

North Carolina’s Senate Bill (SB) 484, sponsored by Senators Timothy Moffitt, Warren Daniel, and Danny Britt, would amend the Workplace Violence Prevention Act by allowing employers to seek restraining orders against “mass...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Coalition for a Democratic Workplace Urges US Attorney General to Unilaterally Override Biden-Era NLRB Decisions

Ballard Spahr LLP on

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

Hinshaw & Culbertson - Employment Law...

Second Circuit Reinstates New York Reproductive Health Bias Law's Notice Requirement in Employee Handbooks

On January 2, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a permanent injunction that barred the enforcement of a requirement under the New York Labor Law Section 203-e (the "Act") that New York State...more

Oppenheimer Investigations Group

Balancing Free Speech and Workplace Harmony: Navigating Political Expression in the Modern Office

A public-school teacher wears a MAGA hat at a training session on cultural sensitivity (Dodge v. Evergreen School District #114, 56 F.4th 767 (9th Cir. 2022)), an actress in a mega-million-dollar film posts controversial...more

Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti,...

Losing My Religion? 8th Circuit Finds that Freedom of Religion is Not a Justification for Employee Conduct

The past few decades have seen a Supreme Court receptive to claims brought on the basis of freedom of religion. For example, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (June 2014), the Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

No wrongful discharge claim based on exercise of rights under state Constitution, Tennessee high court says

The Tennessee Supreme Court has recently held that there is no legal claim for wrongful discharge where an employer terminates an employee because the employee exercised a right set forth in the state Constitution. The...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

Tennessee Supreme Court Holds that Petitioning the State Government is Not Conduct Protected by the Common Law Tort of Retaliatory...

A recent Tennessee Supreme Court decision has addressed a matter of first impression after years of contentious debate regarding employer COVID-19 vaccination policies for employees. Heather Smith (Smith) filed a lawsuit...more

Holland & Hart LLP

New Rules for Public Employers, Courtesy of the Wyoming Legislature

Holland & Hart LLP on

The Wyoming Legislature has wrapped up its 2025 session, but not before adopting several new laws governing public employers. Three of these laws were not specifically drafted as employment laws, but will have significant...more

Rumberger | Kirk

Court Finds School Board Erred in Punishing Teacher for Political Activity on Social Media

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Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal (“Fifth DCA”) recently determined the Duval County School Board erred when it disciplined a teacher for politically-charged social media posts made in the run-up to the 2020...more

Miller Nash LLP

Before We Talk, “You Are Being Recorded”: The Ninth Circuit Affirms Oregon’s Restriction on Unauthorized Recordings

Miller Nash LLP on

Last week, the Ninth Circuit upheld Oregon’s conversational privacy statute as constitutional, finding that Oregonians have an interest in knowing when in-person conversations are recorded and that these recordings require...more

Miles & Stockbridge P.C.

2nd Circuit New York Employers Must Provide Notice Under Reproductive Health Bias Law After Second Circuit Ruling

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month vacated a lower court’s permanent injunction that had prevented the employer notice requirement in New York’s reproductive health bias law from taking effect....more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

New York Employers Must (Again) Provide Reproductive Health Notice of Rights in Employee Handbooks Following Second Circuit Ruling

New York employers are – once again – required to provide employees with notice regarding New York’s reproductive health decision making protections. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a lower court’s...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Business Groups’ Lawsuit Slams California Ban on “Captive Audience” Meetings

As we reported here, California’s Senate Bill (S.B.) 399, took effect on January 1, 2025. This law prohibits employers from requiring employees to attend meetings about the company’s opinions on political or religious...more

Epstein Becker & Green

TikTok, the Clock Won’t Stop, and Cases Involving Court Jurisdiction Narrowly Focused - SCOTUS Today

Epstein Becker & Green on

As the snow has fallen on Washington, DC’s First Street over the past few days, the Supreme Court has begun to issue opinions in the current term....more

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