Tag: Supreme Court

Religious Discrimination: New Employer Obligations on Their Way

The title is a prediction, not a done deal. But no later than June 2023, I believe the U.S. Supreme Court will jettison a 46-year-old case that neutered an employer’s obligation to reasonably accommodate all aspects of an employee’s religious observance or practice. And what will the vote be? 9-0. Read on. How Did We […]

U.S. Supreme Court Says Airline Supervisor Is Exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act

Voluntary arbitration agreements involving federal law are enforced under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Section 1 of the FAA exempts certain classes of workers, however, from the enforcement of arbitration. The U.S. Supreme Court recently resolved a federal circuit court split over whether employees who load cargo for the transportation of goods are engaged in […]

SCOTUS Abortion Ruling Raises Complex Policy Problems for Employers

A number of high-profile companies are speaking out against the U.S. Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) decision overruling Roe v. Wade, and they are backing up their criticism by vowing to help employees wishing to travel for legal abortions. But employers taking such action may face tricky legal issues.

Retirement Plan Fiduciaries Must Wisely Consider All Investment Options

Retirement plan fiduciaries have a duty to monitor investment options continuously and remove all imprudent ones, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) recently ruled in a much-anticipated decision. In the opinion, the Court made it clear the fiduciaries can’t ignore imprudent investment options in 401(k)s or other retirement plans even if other, prudent choices are […]

religious

Friday Night Lights Meets Supreme Court: Will Religious Freedom Get the Game Ball?

Many of our readers are school districts or public employers whose employment law issues sometimes diverge from those of private businesses. Here is one: Government employers must respect employees’ First Amendment rights to free speech and religious expression. Private employers have no such legal duty. The contours of the rights (essentially to be free from […]

Top 10 Noncompete Law Developments of the Past Year

Lawmakers and courts continued to demonstrate hostility toward noncompete and no-hire agreements in 2021. The activity underscores employers’ need to stay current on the diverse state-specific limitations governing restrictive covenants, new federal activity in the area, and ongoing case law developments.

Supreme Court

Supreme Court Stays OSHA ETS Rule, Allows CMS Mandate to Move Forward

Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decisions about the COVID-19 vaccine mandates issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for employers with at least 100 employees, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for healthcare workers. In a 6-3 decision, the Court reimposed a “stay” (or hold) on […]

COVID-19

Maine Vaccine Mandate Wins Supreme Court Battle but May Lose the War

Maine can move ahead and enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate against designated healthcare employees after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant an injunction to a group of affected workers on Friday, when the statute was supposed to take effect. The employees had challenged the law because it doesn’t allow a religious exemption. 4 Takeaways […]

boomer

Is ‘OK, Boomer’ Age Discrimination? Supreme Court Might Tell Us

Life may be a meme—or at least it may seem that way sometimes, especially after a meme embodying intergenerational conflict recently worked its way into arguments in an age discrimination case before the highest court in the land. At oral arguments in Babb v. Wilkie, Chief Justice John Roberts asked one of the advocates if […]