Both employers and unions are waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME. The issue in the case is whether public sector unions can compel workers who have declined to become members to pay them an “agency fee” that covers the union’s activities other than political action. The Court’s decision, which is expected this [...]
On February 29, 2016, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) issued an important decision articulating the type of evidence required for a plaintiff to survive summary judgment in an employment discrimination case. Bulwer v. Mount Auburn Hospital, 2015 WL 10376073 (2016). For years, courts have grappled with this issue in discrimination cases where there is rarely [...]
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in a California case that could have implications for all public sector unions. The case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (Case No. 14-915), is a challenge to a California law permitting public sector unions to collect a portion of union dues (the agency fee) to cover the cost [...]
On June 1, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., and held, 8-1, that Title VII prohibits employers from refusing to hire an applicant in order to avoid accommodating a religious practice that could be accommodated without undue hardship. The case was brought by Ms. Samantha Elauf, a Muslim [...]
On March 25, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., which recognizes that employers who fail to accommodate employees with pregnancy-related job restrictions may be held liable for pregnancy discrimination if they accommodate non-pregnant employees with similar restrictions. NMP first reported this case in August, 2014 when [...]
A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that DOMA’s attempt to supersede a state’s decision to recognize same-sex marriage was a deprivation of due process and the principles of equal protection under the law.