Claims Pages’ Post

Wondering if it costs anything to switch workers’ compensation lawyers in Georgia after your case begins? The answer depends on your initial contract. Learn more in our blog.

US federal judge issues order barring Federal Trade Commission’s ban on noncompetes. On August 20, 2024, Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted the US Chamber of Commerce’s motion for preliminary injunction. The injunction bars the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Noncompete Rule, which was set to go into effect on September 4, 2024. The FTC Rule would have banned most noncompete agreements and required employers to provide notice to current and former employees who were subject to such agreements, that the agreements were void and unenforceable. Judge Brown concluded that the FTC lacked statutory authority to issue the Noncompete Rule and that the Rule is an unlawful agency action. Judge Brown ordered that the Rule shall not be enforced or take effect on September 4. Employers should continue to monitor this decision and any subsequent appeals for further guidance on the effectiveness of the Noncompete Rule. Alert from Markeya Fowler, Employment Attorney, Chuhak & Tecson, P.C., Chicago. #FTC #NoncompeteAgreement #Corporatelaw #Lawfirm #ChuhakandTecson #Righttherewithyou

While there is no formal House bill proposed to raise or eliminate the statutory caps on damages for claims brought under Title VII and the ADA, the House’s discussion to revisit the damages caps indicates a growing momentum that employers should be aware of, writes Husch Blackwell's Erik Eisenmann and Chengzhuo He. Find out why statutory caps on damages matter and how they impact employers: https://lnkd.in/g22Mpwkr #employmentlaw #compliance #TitleVII #ADA

#Employers -- the #NLRB's trend of nitpicking discovery requests made in federal cases continues. For the reasons I laid out last week, I find this to be really problematic. At bottom, the Board and its ALJs appear to be comfortable Monday-Morning-Quarterbacking discovery requests and deposition questions in cases in federal and state courts, over which the Board has no jurisdiction. Intended or not, this sort of second-guessing will likely cause defense lawyers to pull punches in federal litigation for fear of a ULP charge. That seems untenable. This latest decision arose out of a wage/hour case brought in California federal court. When litigating that case, the employer's attorney asked one of the opt-in plaintiffs some questions about 1) how he found his lawyer; 2) discussions he had with other opt-ins; and 3) his prior disciplinary history. Pretty standard stuff. Despite recognizing that these relatively benign questions met the relevance standard under Rule 26, the ALJ still found them unlawful under the Board's Guess? test because the employer didn't prove that its need for the information outweighed the employee's right to confidentially confer with his fellow opt-ins about the lawsuit. The Board summarily affirmed the decision. This all stretches the Guess? test too far. If this line of authority is allowed to stand, employers and their lawyers will have to layer on a secondary risk calculus to their deposition preparations -- namely, whether to ask typical questions or refrain from doing so to avoid a Board charge. As to that, what I said last week still applies: the potential for mischief is high.

Major changes to PAGA (California's Private Attorneys General Act), including the law's penalty structure. Read more below! #PAGA #PAGAReform #ClassActions #CaliforniaEmploymentLaw

The US Federal Trade Commission's appeals update on its non-compete contract ban affecting 1 out of every 5 American workers. Big Law went judge shopping to find federal judges who would agree with them in the lower courts to keep these ludicrous contracts (defective legal products) in place for their own financial gain - at the expense of the American workers. Most of the appeals factual case is based on the abuse of the Oregon legal industry's and their client's abuse of these contracts over the years allowing the theft of all unpaid earned income and stock investment in the company and blacklisting in the industry beyond the contractual period by acts of the legal industry themselves and their clients. This theft of property occurs even when there is no violation of the contract and there is no defense or due process in Oregon as set up by the Oregon legislature. Ellen Rosenblum Tim Knopp Matthew Kish Denise Merle Dunn Carney LLP https://lnkd.in/gppJ8xJJ

PAGA Reform - Webinar Today (7/11/24 at 10 a.m. PT): California employers, don't miss this opportunity to learn about the transformative reforms of California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) and how this will impact employers across California. This session by Zaller Law Group will cover key changes to PAGA, including: 🔹 New standing requirements for plaintiffs 🔹 Reduced penalties for compliant employers 🔹 Penalty caps for proactive employers 🔹 Prohibition of stacking penalties 🔹 Enhanced judicial discretion 🔹 Relief for weekly payments 🔹 Early resolution options Register to prepare your business for these critical changes! https://lnkd.in/gKgSeXB9

On June 18, 2024, Governor Newsom reached a deal to reform California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). The agreement reforms penalty structure, reduces and streamlines litigation, improves measures for injunctive relief and standing, and strengthens state enforcement. ✔️ Reform Penalty Structure: Penalties are capped on employers who take steps to fix policies and practices after receiving a PAGA notice, as well as on employers who act responsibly to take steps proactively to comply with the labor code. The agreement also created new, higher penalties on employers who act maliciously, fraudulently, or oppressively in violating labor laws. Finally, it ensures that more of the penalty money goes to employees by increasing the amount allocated to employees from 25% to 35%. ✔️ Reduce and Streamline Litigation: The agreement expands which Labor Code sections can be cured to reduce the need for litigation, and provides small employers a more robust right-to-cure process. Finally, it codifies that a court may limit the scope of claims presented at trial. ✔️ Improve Measures for Injunctive Relief and Standing: By doing so, the hope is that businesses will implement changes in the workplace to remedy labor law violations. Employees also must personally experience the alleged violations brought in a claim. ✔️ Strengthen State Enforcement: The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) now has the ability to expedite hiring and fill vacancies. However, the deal points fail to include the problem of employee attorneys reaping unreasonable attorney's fees and more than often receiving more than the employees. This refined PAGA statute still encourages attorneys to hunt for plaintiffs rather than employees with claims seeking out legal representation. Thus, the parody of the classic "ambulance chasing" lawyer would survive under this revised PAGA. . . . #TheParkmanLawFirm #freeconsultation #consultation #construction #constructionlaw #constructionlitigation #business #businesslaw #wageandhour #humanresources #hr #law #legal #litigation #transactional #lawyer #attorney #help #aid #lawfirm #sandiego #scrippsranch #california #ca #PAGA #PAGAClaim #DIR

The #CA Supreme Court has concluded that dismissing #PAGA claims solely on manageability grounds is not among the tools that trial courts possess but left various other means for limiting or dismissing PAGA claims undisturbed. To learn more, click below.

The IRS is facing lawsuits for delaying the processing of valid Employee Retention Tax Credit claims. To learn more about the details of the issues, check out the article linked below.