GT L&E Blog Global Developments In Labor & Employment Law

Monthly Archives: September 2011

Ninth Circuit Rules That State Social Workers Are Not “Learned Professionals” Exempt from Overtime Pay

By GT Labor & Employment Team on Posted in Wage & Hour

On September 9, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Washington State social workers are not “learned professionals” exempt from FLSA overtime pay requirements, despite “rigorous” educational and training requirements for the positions (Solis v. Washington).  Candidates for the position of Social Worker 2 were required to have a bachelor’s degree in social services, human services, behavioral… Continue Reading

Seventh Circuit Allows Supervisor to be Comparator of Plaintiff in Discriminatory Discharge Case

By Michael Karpeles on Posted in Discrimination

In Rodgers v. White (No. 10-3916), decided on September 2nd, the Seventh Circuit reached the unusual result of allowing a plaintiff to use his supervisor as a comparator in a comparative discipline case alleging race discrimination. The result is important because the Seventh Circuit had previously indicated in several cases that supervisors are typically poor… Continue Reading

New York City Adopts More Stringent Standard for Showing “Undue Hardship”

By GT Labor & Employment Team on Posted in Discrimination

New York City has adopted a new, higher standard that employers must meet if they decline to accommodate an employee’s religious observance or practice on the grounds that the accommodation would constitute an “undue hardship.” On August 30, 2011, Mayor Bloomberg signed Local Law 54, which amended the definition of undue hardship in the New York… Continue Reading

Arizona Must Continue Offering Benefits to Same-Sex Partners of State Employees

By Rebecca Covell on Posted in Benefits, Constitution, Discrimination, Legislation, State Law

Last Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit upheld an injunction that blocked an Arizona law that would have eliminated health care benefits for same-sex partners of state employees. Before 2008, health insurance benefits for dependents of Arizona state employees were available only to the spouses and children of those employees. In April of 2008, then-Governor Janet Napolitano implemented… Continue Reading

NLRB Issues Decisions Delaying Employee Free Choice

By Justin Keith on Posted in Labor

  This week (and just prior to the expiration of Chairman Liebman’s term), the NLRB released two significant decisions, each of which undo procedural safeguards put in place by prior Board decisions to ensure employee free choice. First, in Lamons Gasket Co., 357 NLRB No. 72, the Board reversed its 2007 decision in Dana Corp. Under Dana Corp., employers who voluntarily recognized… Continue Reading