Call Us 919-240-4054Workers who have been denied retirement or disability benefits from their employers and who want to appeal should be aware that a recent Supreme Court ruling has shortened the statute of limitations for filing suit on these claims. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) sets minimum standards for pension plans provided by […]
US Supreme Court
Supreme Court says plaintiffs not entitled to wage class action against American Express
The United States Supreme Court has held that merchants who seek to bring antitrust claims against American Express can’t join together in a class action, even though they all have similar claims, and even though the merchants say it would be cost-prohibitive for them to bring individual claims against the company. The reason: the businesses […]
Supreme Court issues important decision in discrimination case
In Staub v. Proctor Hospital, the US Supreme Court just issued an important unanimous decision in this military-service-based discrimination case. This case concerns the so-called “cat’s paw” theory of liability, under which one supervisor acts with discriminatory intent against the plaintiff, but the plaintiff is actually fired by another supervisor. The case arose under the Uniformed Services […]
Supreme Court endorses associational retaliation claim
Late last month, in Thompson v. North American Stainless, the Supreme Court unanimously concluded that firing a worker’s fiancé in retaliation for a sex discrimination claim filed by the worker is itself unlawful retaliation under Title VII. The anti-retaliation provision of Title VII prohibits any employer action that “well might have dissuaded a reasonable worker from making […]
Supreme Court rules on arbitration issues for unions and employees in two cases
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two decisions concerning whether particular issues had to be decided by an arbitrator or in federal court. One care arose in the traditional area of labor arbitration between companies and unions; the second arose in the ever-growing area of employer-imposed arbitration agreements on regular employees. In the first, Granite […]
Supreme Court rules on workplace privacy and two-member labor board
Two labor and employment decisions were released by the U.S. Supreme Court this past week. In the first, City of Ontario v. Quon, the Court unanimously held (with Scalia concurring separately) that the government employer’s search of employee text messages was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Unlike private employers, public employers are constrained (somewhat) by […]
Two employment decisions from the Supreme Court
On May 24, the Supreme Court issued two employment-related opinions. The first, Lewis v. Chicago, concerned the filing deadline for disparate impact discrimination cases under Title VII. The black firefighter plaintiffs in the case sought to challenge a written test used for determining promotions. The question was whether their statute of limitations began running when the […]
U.S. Supreme Court high season begins
Although the Surpreme Court issues opinions throughout its term, many come out towards the back end of the term, which concludes in June. In the last couple of weeks, the Court has issued several decisions which touch on employment law: In Conkirght v. Frommert, the 5-3 majority upheld the company’s denial of pension benefits to […]
