Balough
December 13, 2014
In a reversal of previous practice, employees may use their employer’s email system for labor organizing, the National Labor Relations Board ruled. The new case involved the right of employees to “communicate with one another regarding self-organization at the jobsite” under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. In 2007 the NLRB had found […]
Balough
August 29, 2014
FedEx Ground delivery drivers are employees, not independent contractors, under California’s labor laws, the Ninth Circuit found, reversing a summary judgment for the delivery service. The drivers filed suit for employment expenses and unpaid wages under the California Labor Code on the ground that FedEx had improperly classified the drivers as independent contractors. The case […]
Balough
March 30, 2014
How long does it take three appellate court staff members to change into and out of protective clothing for a poultry processing plant? Not long, so the appellants lost their appeal in the Seventh Circuit. The novel experiment conducted in chambers and privately videotaped was apparently conducted by Judge Richard Posner and detailed in a […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
Being employed for less than two years is not sufficient consideration for enforcing a non-compete agreement in Illinois, a state appellate court ruled. The issue arose when an employee quit his job after three months. His employment contract included a non-compete agreement restricting his employment for two years after he terminated his employment for any […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
Placing a global positioning system (GPS) tracking device on a state employee’s personal car as part of an investigation does not require a warrant, but using the GPS to track the employee 24 hours a day for a month was unreasonable, a New York appeals court majority found. A concurring opinion would have required a […]
Balough
December 22, 2013
The marital communications privilege does not cover emails sent by a husband to his wife using his workplace computer. A federal appeals court affirmed the conviction of a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates for bribery and extortion for securing state funding for Old Dominion University in exchange for employment by the university. […]
Balough
December 14, 2013
A news organization can fire an employee even if the termination is based upon the employee reporting journalistic ethics violations, the Seventh Circuit has found. The appellate court affirmed a trial court decision that an employee can be terminated for reporting to her superiors and declining to produce a program that she said failed to […]
