Advocates for Labor and Progressive Institutions
In a decision advancing important policy considerations, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that a trial court was correct to dismiss on the face of the pleadings a malicious prosecution claim brought against a national union.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a victory on behalf of a class of Colgate-Palmolive Company retirees and former employees whose retirement benefits had been underpaid, finding that the plain language of the governing plan amendment mandated the additional payments. Prior to the amendment in question, Colgate had been violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in two distinct ways in calculating lump sum pension payouts for departing employees. Colgate’s contention was that it intended the plan amendment to address only one of the violations and that former employees whose payouts were deficient because of the second violation had no claim under the amendment.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that an Illinois teacher union was entitled to enforce the terms of a union membership agreement. In so holding, the court soundly rejected an argument that a teacher had a First Amendment right under the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, 138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018), to avoid paying dues under that agreement.
The U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) entered into a landmark collective-bargaining agreement with the United States Soccer Federation that guarantees that players on the U.S. Women’s National team will be paid equal to their counterparts on the U.S. Men’s National Team. The CBA, which was ratified by USWNTPA members alongside a corresponding CBA entered into by the USMNT Players’ union, will run through 2028.
Coinciding with our 70th anniversary as a law firm, we are launching this major revision of our website. In addition to giving the site a fresh look, we also have updated the content to better reflect our current mix of work. We hope the new site makes it easy to find the information you are looking for.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit enforced an order of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), upholding in all respects the NLRB’s finding that three vocal union leaders had been unlawfully fired in retaliation for their union activity at a plant operated by Mondelez Global, LLC, in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
The United States Courts of Appeals for the Third and Seventh Circuits, respectively, upheld the constitutionality of union membership and dues-deduction authorization agreements signed before the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, 138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018).
In Doughty v. State Employees’ Association of New Hampshire, SEIU Local 1984, 981 F.3d 128 (1st Cir. 2020), the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that a public-sector union could not be compelled to refund mandatory fair-share fees from nonmembers where the union had collected those fees in compliance with then-binding Supreme Court precedent.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (“AFL-CIO”) filed an emergency petition with the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for a writ of mandamus that would compel the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) to issue an emergency temporary standard for infectious disease to protect workers from the dangers posed by COVID-19.