The Employment Brief | Employment Law | Kollman & Saucier, P.A.

Woodford Reserve Distillery Ordered to Bargain with Union Despite Winning a Representation Election

Clifford Geiger

04/15/2024

In August 2022, the Teamsters Union notified Woodford Reserve Distillery that its employees were organizing. Managers then held meetings with employees to speak about the organizing campaign. By the first week of October 2022, the employer believed that 50-60 percent of the employees had signed union authorization cards, primarily motivated by a desire for increased wages. By October 11, the Company decided to announce a $4 per hour across-the-board...

Darrell VanDeusen

04/04/2024

Negligence, Sex Discrimination

I am an unapologetic Parrothead, having discovered Jimmy Buffett in the mid-1970’s. You may know some or all of “the Big 8” most played Buffett songs, but there’s a deep catalog of work spanning from 1970 until he set sail last Labor Day weekend. Bubbles up, JB. One of his early songs, “Cuban Crime of Passion” (track 5 off 1973’s A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean) never charted. It tells the story of piano player Billy...

Darrell VanDeusen

04/02/2024

Harassment, Title VII

It is said that a good country song must include lyrics about heartbreak, mothers, prison, trains, rain, guns, Jesus, getting drunk, and pick-up trucks. Did you know there’s actually a song about that? “You Never Even Called Me by My Name” (sung by David Allen Coe on his 1975 album Once Upon a Rhyme) was written by Steve Goodman and John Prine, two of my favorite songwriters. It was a Top Ten Billboard Country hit. Goodman put the song...

Vincent Jackson

04/01/2024

NLRB

Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overruled a recent decision of the National Labor Relations Board finding that an employer engaged in unfair labor practices by “surveilling” union activity and issuing disproportionate punishment to a union activist. The case, Stern Produce Company v. NLRB, involved two separate incidents: (1) a driver who was sent a text message from a supervisor advising him that he had to...

Mathew Moldawer

03/22/2024

FLSA Exemptions

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the decisions of two federal district courts and remanded for further proceedings, without providing much guidance on what to do next. Parker v. Battle Creek Pizza, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 5858 (6th Cir. 2024) was poised to guide employers on the reimbursement amount for minimum-wage pizza delivery drivers who purchase “tools” for their job. A federal court in Michigan held the delivery drivers should...

Mathew Moldawer

03/22/2024

PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act

Two McDonald’s employees, with other similarly situated employees, filed a lawsuit on February 14, 2024 against McDonald’s USA, LLC, MBM Management, Harold T. Clark, LLC, and ABC Corporations, alleging violations of the PUMP Act in the federal district court of Illinois. The lawsuit alleged that the two employees were told they would be provided accommodations afforded under the PUMP Act to express breast milk but were not provided...

Kollman & Saucier

03/15/2024

NLRB, Uncategorized

A federal district court in Texas struck down the National Labor Relation Board’s (NLRB or the Board) new joint employer rule that was set to take effect March 11th. However, this may not be the end of the road for the NLRB’s new joint employer rule. The NLRB’s new joint employer rule expanded the conditions and types of control over terms of employment that trigger a finding of a joint employer relationship. The NLRB outlined seven factors of...

Kollman & Saucier

03/14/2024

Arbitration

It’s getting a bit warmer outside, the sun is setting later, the grass is getting longer, and my allergies are starting to make their presence felt. Spring is here, and for baseball fans that means only one thing; opening day is just around the corner. Several weeks before pitchers and catchers reported for spring training, many players were engaged in a different sort of preparation for the upcoming season. Under the current Major League Baseball...

Kollman & Saucier

03/05/2024

Legislative Developments

We are just past halfway through the 2024 session of the Maryland General Assembly. Here are some bills that have the potential to affect your business if they successively make their long journey to Governor Moore’s desk. SB0957/HB1255: Automated Employment Decisions Tools would prohibit the use of “high-risk” screening tools in making employment decisions. The bill defines a “high-risk” took as one whose use is likely to result in...

Darrell VanDeusen

02/21/2024

Disparate Impact, Employment Discrimination, Uncategorized

I struggled a bit with an appropriate song reference for this blog. I’m going with “So Far Away,” written by Carole King and track 2 on Tapestry (1971). In the post-pandemic world there’s been a seismic shift in the world of where you work. Remote, hybrid, full-time in office… it’s all over the map (pun intended). As employers try to navigate this new work world order, it’s important to consider what can and cannot be...

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Woodford Reserve Distillery Ordered to Bargain with Union Despite Winning a Representation Election

Just a [workplace] crime of passion, messy and old fashioned.

“You Never Even Called Me by My Name”

D.C. Circuit Overrules NLRB On Worker “Surveillance” Case

Sixth Circuit Provides Little Guidance For Pizza Delivery Drivers FLSA Claim

Do you want a lawsuit with your burger? Lawsuit Against McDonalds for Violations of PUMP Act.

The Future of the NLRB’s New Joint Employer Rule Remains Unclear

The Uniqueness of Baseball Arbitration

Legislation from the 2024 Maryland General Assembly that Could Affect Your Business

Out of Sight, Out of Mind… Bye Bye?

Email Updates