A Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge held in OFCCP v. Florida Hospital of Orlando, 2009-OFC-2 (Oct. 18, 2010) that a hospital that participated in and received more than $50,000 in reimbursement from the Department of Defense’s TRICARE program was a federal government subcontractor and, as a result, was required to comply with the affirmative action… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: October 2010
New Littler Blogs: Labor Relations Counsel and Digital Workplace Blog
We are pleased to announce two new additions to the Littler blogroll: Labor Relations Counsel Brought to you by Littler’s Labor Management Relations Practice Group, the Labor Relations Counsel blog targets meaningful legal developments, including appellate court decisions, NLRB and NMB decisions, and administrative rules and regulations. During this time of enormous governmental change and… Continue Reading
Misclassification Class Action Settles for $2.6 Million
On October 18, 2010, Baxter Healthcare Corporation became the latest healthcare employer to settle a wage and hour class action. Ten months after a group of California lab technicians sued Baxter, alleging they were improperly classified as exempt employees, the case settled for $2.6 million. After fees, costs and other administrative expenses are paid out,… Continue Reading
California Expands List of Criminal Convictions Barring In-Home Caregivers
On Friday, October 8, 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a budget package that includes two bills, AB 1612 and SB 856, tightening the background check requirements and restricting individuals with certain violent felony convictions from working as caregivers in California’s In-Home Support Services (IHSS) program. Previously, California law prohibited individuals from working as IHSS caregivers if they had… Continue Reading
NUHW Files Objections in Historic Election Loss to SEIU
As expected, the NUHW filed objections with the NLRB in the fledgling union’s battle with SEIU to represent 42,000 Kaiser employees in California, the largest union election in more than a half century. On October 7, the NLRB announced that SEIU-UHW had prevailed with 61% of the vote. NUHW is the union created by former leaders… Continue Reading
Healthcare Workers Again Challenge Mandatory Flu Vaccinations
Echoing last year’s challenges of mandatory flu vaccinations for healthcare workers, a healthcare employee has filed a putative class action against AnMed Health, a network of hospitals and healthcare facilities in South Carolina, claiming that mandatory flu vaccination requirements constitute an unreasonable invasion of privacy under that state’s constitution and common law. AnMed Health’s Influenza… Continue Reading
SEIU Delivers Potentially Fatal Blow to Upstart Rival
In a continuing example of the labor movement’s penchant for self-immolation, the SEIU prevailed in a hard fought campaign against the NUHW, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, at Kaiser Healthcare in California. As previously reported in this blog, the NUHW was created by the former leaders of an SEIU local based in Oakland known… Continue Reading
Automatic Meal-Break Class Action Against Hospital Dismissed, Preempted by LMRA
In a significant defeat for plaintiffs’ class action firms bringing wage and hour class cases against unionized healthcare institutions, a Massachusetts federal judge dismissed a wage and hour class action against Caritas Christi Health Care System on the grounds that the claims were preempted by the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA). This decision is particularly… Continue Reading
NLRB to Streamline Process of Seeking Injunctions for Terminations During Organizing Campaigns
Many have speculated that the National Labor Relations Board may seek to implement through the Board’s processes certain aspects of the Employee Free Choice Act in lieu of legislative action. To wit, in a move that partially implements EFCA’s “enhanced enforcement” provisions, the NLRB Office of the General Counsel (GC) has put into place a program… Continue Reading