Follow Us
twittergoogle_pluslinkedinrssyoutube
Subscribe to the BT Currents Blog

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Recent Posts
The Legal Stuff
this is the image
BT Currents - Hot Topics in Employment Law

05 Mar Which Side Will Justice Gorsuch Fall On Public Sector Union Fees?

Supreme Court Watch | Taylor Hunter

  Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard the issue of whether public sector agency shop arrangements violate the First Amendment.   Hearing this issue for a second time, the court will decide whether to overturn a 1977 ruling that held that the service charges used to finance expenditures by the public sector union for collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance adjustment purposes, are valid, even if the public employee is not a union member.   Just last year, the court examined this very issue in…

0 0
READ MORE

01 Mar Sex, Power & the Workplace: Protecting Women who Work

Workplace Culture and Conduct | Jeanine Gozdecki

With the Oscars in the spotlight this weekend, the lens of the #MeToo movement is re-focusing on Hollywood and the entertainment industry.   But, the challenges of sexual harassment transcend industry and geography.  Even Oprah, in accepting her recent Golden Globes award, powerfully reminded us about victims beyond Hollywood:  those who “had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue.”   Fundamentally, it is about those who work, at all levels, and it is incumbent on employers, legally, ethically, practically, to maintain a work…

0 0
READ MORE

28 Feb U.S. Supreme Court to Take Up Independent Contractor Arbitration Case

Employment Lessons, Supreme Court Watch | BT Currents

  Our sister labor and employment blog, Labor Relations, recently posted about an important case on the horizon for those in the transportation industry. This week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of New Prime, Inc., a transportation company that is asking the Court to overrule the First Circuit and find that an independent contractor’s class action claim should be compelled to arbitration.   Employers who rely on arbitration agreements with their employees and independent contractors will want to pay attention as the…

0 0
READ MORE

28 Feb Dodd-Frank Whistleblowers: Supreme Court Holds Internal Complaints are Not Enough

Employment Lessons, Supreme Court Watch | Mark Kittaka

  Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held in the Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers case  that the definition of a “whistleblower” under the Dodd-Frank Act (“Dodd-Frank”) does not cover internal complaints made only to the company.  The employee is required to file a formal complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to qualify for the increased remedies and greater protections as compared to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”).  The Court found no ambiguity in the express definition of a “whistleblower”…

0 0
READ MORE

27 Feb Another Court Reverses Course: Second Circuit Holds Title VII Forbids Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Employment Discrimination, Employment Lessons | Jackie Gessner

  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion on Monday of this week and explicitly held that Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.   In the closely watched case, Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc., a full panel of the Second Circuit revisited the question of sexual orientation coverage under Title VII.  In its decision, the Court cited the history and intent behind the passage of Title VII – namely, that it was intended to be a…

0 0
READ MORE