Legal News

On July 31, 2019, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a law prohibiting Illinois employers from asking job applicants or their previous employers about salary history. The law amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003, which made it illegal to discriminatorily pay...By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

The National Labor Relations Act’s (NLRA or Act) Section 7 grants to all employees — regardless of whether they are unionized or not — the right to engage in protected concerted activity (PCA). Accordingly, an employer may not punish or take any...By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

On July 15, 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order requiring regulations implementing the Buy American Act, 41 U.S.C. §§ 8301-8305, to be changed. While President Trump has previously issued two other policy-based “Buy American” Executive...By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is expected to sign into law the City Council’s recently passed Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance (the “Ordinance”). The Ordinance, which includes predictable scheduling provisions, will dramatically affect workweek...By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Unionized workers wishing to rid themselves of continued union representation (and their employers) just got some very good news from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) with the issuance of Johnson Controls, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 20...By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

On June 4, 2019, the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District issued an unpublished opinion in Krista Townley v. BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. holding that BJ’s Restaurants was not required to reimburse its employees for the cost of black, slip-resistant,...By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

On June 26, 2019, Southern District of New York Judge Denise Cote granted a motion to compel arbitration of a plaintiff’s sexual harassment claims finding that the New York State prohibition on mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims is...By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

In its decision, the Court concluded that UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (“United”) was not authorized to engage in “cross-plan offsetting.” What is cross-plan offsetting? It is a “self-help” practice that third party administrators (“TPAs”) of...By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

UberX and UberBLACK Drivers Are Not Employees for Purposes of the NLRA - According to the NLRB General Counsel’s Division of Advice (GC), Uber’s UberX and UberBLACK drivers are independent contractors exempt from the rights and protections of the...By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Effective as of May 13, 2019, the U.S. Internal Revue Service (IRS) made a change to the application process for U.S. Federal employer identification numbers (EIN), the Federal tax ID number for companies in the U.S., which is going to significantly...By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP