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The Labor Law Insider: How Arbitrations Help Preserve Labor-Management Peace, Part I
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The Labor Law Insider: NLRB Does a U-Turn on Make-Whole Settlement Remedies, Part I
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The Changing Landscape of EEOC Enforcement and Disparate Impact
Last month, Judge Jose E. Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida denied the Burger King Defendants’ (“Burger King”) motion to dismiss a putative class action alleging that its “No-Hire”...more
A federal court recently denied a franchisor’s motion to dismiss a workplace-abuse lawsuit filed by its franchisee’s employee because the employee stated a claim upon which relief could be granted under Federal Rule of Civil...more
Arrington v. Burger King Worldwide, Inc., No. 1:18-cv-24128 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 5, 2018) – In October 2018, Jarvis Arrington, a former employee at a Burger King franchisee in Illinois, filed a class action complaint against...more
The Supreme Court of Texas recently ruled that franchisor Massage Heights did not owe a duty of care to a massage customer who alleged a sexual assault, because, among other reasons, Massage Heights had neither the...more
On May 2, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court reversed a Texas Court of Appeals’ decision that had affirmed a jury’s verdict finding a franchisor directly liable to the customer of a franchisee for actions undertaken by the...more
A federal court in Virginia recently granted McDonald’s USA, LLC’s motion to dismiss a former franchise employee’s Title VII and Virginia Human Rights Act claims. Edmonds v. McDonald’s USA, LLC, 2025 WL 1066193 (W.D. Va. Apr....more
A federal court in Massachusetts recently granted, in part, a Motion for Preliminary Injunction as to enforcement of franchise agreement noncompete covenants but denied the motion as to claims of trademark infringement,...more
Le 13 février 2025, la Cour d’appel de la Colombie-Britannique (la « CACB ») a rejeté une demande d’autorisation d’interjeter appel du jugement sommaire rendu dans l’affaire Latifi v. The TDL Group Corp., confirmant que des...more
A federal court in North Dakota recently denied a motion to dismiss vicarious liability claims against the corporate entities constituting the Subway franchise system. C.S. v. Subway Worldwide, Inc., 2025 WL 472475 (D.N.D....more
Last year in a rare victory for the Department of Labor, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim by a Dairy Queen franchisee that the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits DOL from establishing any minimum salary for...more
On February 13, 2025, the B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from summary judgment in Latifi v. The TDL Group Corp., confirming that a claim for conspiracy to injure will fail where the predominant purpose of an...more
With a Republican-controlled Congress and White House, business lobbyists are seizing the opportunity to push for permanent clarity on the issue of joint employment. The International Franchise Association (IFA) is advocating...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court answered “no” to a certified question from the First Circuit Court of Appeals asking whether plaintiff franchisees “‘perform any service’ for 7-Eleven within the meaning of [the...more
On September 5, 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) answered a second certified question in Patel, et al. v. 7-Eleven, Inc., et al. (“Patel II”), a long-running case where 7-Eleven franchisees claimed they...more
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed in part, and vacated in part, a district court’s issuance of an injunction preventing a franchisor’s enforcement of a noncompete covenant as written but allowing...more
The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently certified to the Massachusetts Supreme Court the question of whether franchisee plaintiffs in an ongoing case pass the threshold inquiry under the state’s three-prong employee...more
A federal court in Maine granted a franchisor’s motion to dismiss claims asserting that a franchisor was liable for its franchisee’s alleged age discrimination in employment. Goodwill v. Anywhere Real Est., 2023 WL 4034372...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a decision that a group of franchisees are not employees of their franchisor, even though the trial court failed to apply the correct test. Haitayan v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 2022...more
Over the last several years, business-to-business “no-hire” and “no-poach” agreements have come under legal attack, including through enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission and criminal prosecutions by the...more
On March 24, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) handed down a key ruling that could have a significant impact on franchising across the state. In Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc., the SJC was asked whether the...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court just held that 7-Eleven franchisees may be employees of 7-Eleven under Massachusetts wage and hour law. The March 24 decision in Dhananjay Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc. will have significant...more
In 2015, the NLRB adopted a more relaxed standard for determining when an entity could be considered a joint employer and thus liable for alleged workplace wrongs along with a direct employer. Of course the result of the...more
Part 2: New Employment-Related Court Decisions Impacting California’s Public and Private Entities - California and federal courts handed down a number of labor and employment-related decisions last year, impacting...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The third key trend from our 16th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report involves governmental enforcement litigation, including an overview of priorities and filings by the EEOC, the U.S....more
Home speaker maker Sonos has sued Google, accusing the company of “infringing on five of its patents, including technology that lets wireless speakers connect and synchronize with one another.” Sonos had originally partnered...more