News & Analysis as of

State and Local Government Appeals Employment Litigation

Rumberger | Kirk

Supreme Court Sides with Alabama Plaintiffs Caught in “Catch-22”

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In Williams v. Reed, 145 S. Ct. 465 (2025), the United States Supreme Court reversed an Alabama Supreme Court decision affirming the dismissal of plaintiffs’ Section 1983 claims for lack of jurisdiction, based on the...more

Clark Hill PLC

Colorado Court of Appeals rules that claims under the Health Care Worker Protection Act are subject to the Colorado Governmental...

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On May 8, the Colorado Court of Appeals concluded that any claim that might be asserted under the Health Care Worker Protection Act (“HCWPA”), C.R.S § 8-2-123, is subject to the notice requirement in the Colorado Governmental...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Government

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Sterry v. Minnesota Department of Corrections, 8 N.W.3d 224 (Minn. 2024) places Minnesota governmental employers on the same footing as private employers for the purposes of vicarious liability. The State, cities, and...more

Rumberger | Kirk

A Blow to Whistleblowers: No More Pain and Suffering Damages

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On February 26, 2025, in the lawsuit Agency for Persons with Disabilities v. Toal, the First District Court of Appeal held that noneconomic damages are not a form of relief that can be recovered under Florida’s Public-sector...more

Perkins Coie

Washington Supreme Court Denies Appeal of Meal Period Penalty Case

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In October 2024 we wrote about the Washington State Court of Appeals’ opinion in Androckitis v. Virginia Mason Medical Center, which held that the remedy for meal period violations includes three components: (1) payment of...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

The Best of Intentions: State Law Protections for Employee Cannabis Use May Not Protect Them After All

While not enough blogs these days quote Toad the Wet Sprocket lyrics, a recent decision from a federal appellate court holding that a would-be employee can suffer negative employment consequences for cannabis use even when...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

California Supreme Court Decision Limits Manageability Dismissals for PAGA Claims

For companies doing business in California, it’s important to be aware of the January 18, 2024 California Supreme Court decision in Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc.*, which examined whether trial courts can strike PAGA...more

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

California Holds Employers Have No Duty to Protect Employees’ Households from COVID-19

The California Supreme Court has answered in the negative the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ certified question regarding “take-home” COVID-19 exposure (see Federal Appeals Court Asks California If Covid-19 “Take Home” Suits...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

California Court of Appeal Clarifies Employer’s Obligation to Reimburse Expenses Depends on Whether They Were a Direct Consequence...

On July 11, 2023, the California Court of Appeal in Thai v. IBM held that whether an employer is obligated to reimburse expenses incurred by an employee working from home turns on whether the expenses were a direct...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Are You Sitting Down for This? California Court of Appeal Provides Further Guidance on Suitable Seating Claims

The California Court of Appeal in Meda v. AutoZone, Inc. recently reversed a trial court’s finding that an employer demonstrated it “provided” seats to its employees as a matter of law under California’s suitable seating...more

Verrill

Massachusetts Employee Fired For Submitting PIP Rebuttal Protected By Public Policy

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In a recent decision, Terence Meehan v. Medical Information Technology, Inc., the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that an employer cannot terminate an employee for exercising the right to file a rebuttal to a...more

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Claimant Denied Pennsylvania Unemployment Benefits for Walking Off Job Without Voicing COVID-19 Concerns

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Fear of COVID-19 was not a valid reason for walking off the job, according to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania’s recent decision. Shortly after the lockdown orders were issued by Gov. Tom Wolf in March 2020, a Certified...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Split of Authority Emerges Regarding Whether Employers Can Dismiss PAGA Lawsuits on Manageability Grounds

On March 23, 2022, the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District in Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc., ruled that courts do not have authority to strike a claim under the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”)...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Employers May Face an Expanded Liability Period in PAGA Suits Under the Relation Back Doctrine

On February 7, 2022 a California Court of Appeal issued its decision in Hutcheson v. The Superior Court of Alameda County (UBS Financial Services, Inc.). The case addresses the relation back doctrine in the context of a...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

California Court of Appeal Makes Clear that PAGA Plaintiffs are not Entitled to a Jury Trial and Provides Helpful Guidance on...

On February 18, 2022, the California Court of Appeal issued its decision in Jill LaFace v. Ralphs Grocery Company, __ Cal. App. 5th __ (2022), that provides important guidance in two areas. First, the Court made clear that...more

Snell & Wilmer

Utah’s Employer/Independent Contractor Distinction Remains Cloudy, Even To Judges

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In a February 3, 2022 opinion by the Utah Court of Appeals, the struggle that courts have in distinguishing between employees and independent contractors continues. In Jensen Tech Services and Sentinel Insurance Company,...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

You Are Not on the List, Sir: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Right-to-Work Claim

So, the union has an agreement with the company’s management that only those on their predetermined qualification list can be selected for a job. Would that list, or at least the administrative arm for that list, be...more

Butler Snow LLP

Saving Time and Money: Preemption of Direct Negligence Claims Against Employers in Tennessee

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Although Tennessee courts recognize claims asserted against an employer such as negligent hiring, training, supervision, and entrustment, recent case law suggests that those claims may no longer viable after an employer...more

Foley Hoag LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Recognizes Wrongful Discharge Claim for Employees Exercising Rebuttal Rights under Personnel...

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On December 17, 2021, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC) held that an employee has a cause of action against an employer for wrongful discharge where the employer terminates the employee for exercising the...more

Perkins Coie

No More Free Flights: Employee Travel Time Is Now Compensable Under Washington Law

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In Port of Tacoma v. Sacks, the Court of Appeals of the State of Washington recently held that all out-of-town employee travel time is compensable under state law. The decision confirms the Washington State Department of...more

Butler Snow LLP

Age is Just a Number: Tennessee Court of Appeals Highlights the Importance of Keeping Age Out of the Termination Equation

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The Tennessee Human Rights Act prohibits covered employers from discriminating against employees forty years old or older because of their age. In a recent case, the Tennessee Court of Appeals provided a reminder that other...more

Butler Snow LLP

Tennessee Court Offers Insights on Viability of Whistleblower Claims

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Under the Tennessee Public Protection Act (TPPA), also known as “the whistleblowing statute,” it’s illegal to fire an employee if the sole cause for the termination was for refusing to either remain silent about or to...more

Cozen O'Connor

Third Circuit Upholds Philadelphia Wage History Ordinance

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On February 6, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a City of Philadelphia ordinance that prohibits employers from inquiring after and/or relying upon a prospective employee’s wage history in any...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Pay Equity Litigation Update:  Third Circuit Upholds Philadelphia Ordinance Banning Inquiries Into Job Applicants’ Pay History

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Seyfarth Synopsis: Many states and cities have recently enacted laws prohibiting employers from inquiring about an applicant’s salary history or seeking that information from the applicant or the applicant’s current or former...more

Littler

Third Circuit Lifts Preliminary Injunction and Green Lights Philadelphia’s Salary History Ordinance

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On February 6, 2020, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Philadelphia’s salary history ordinance and reversed the decision of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania which had held that...more

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