Insights

San Francisco – December 21, 2020: In a novel constitutional case, Crowell & Moring secured a decisive victory for the University of California (UC) by defeating a motion for preliminary injunction which sought to halt the implementation of an Executive Order requiring that all UC students, employees, and faculty working, studying, or living on campus to get a flu shot by November 1. UC was one of dozens of U.S. colleges and universities that implemented a flu vaccine requirement this year, due to the confluence of the 2020-21 flu season and the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington, D.C. – June 29, 2016: On June 28, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. v. SEIU, upholding the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in favor of SEIU, Crowell & Moring client Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and related organizations. In the matter, Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. alleged an antitrust conspiracy between a health care workers' union and Kaiser to eliminate a competing hospital services provider from the market and asserted related monopolization claims against Kaiser.

Washington, D.C. – February 14, 2013: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that Thomas P. Gies, a partner in the firm's Labor & Employment Law Group, testified today before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. The hearing, "Sequestration: Examining Employers' WARN Act Responsibilities," focused on clarifying guidelines surrounding the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), which requires large employers to send written notice to employees 60 days in advance of potential layoffs or plant closings.

Over the past several years, federal courts have increasingly questioned the authority of administrative law judges (ALJs) to adjudicate alleged violations of certain labor and employment statutes.  In the last several weeks, two U.S. district courts in Texas issued decisions halting unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on the grounds that NLRB ALJs lack the constitutional authority to preside over such actions due to unconstitutional protections against their removal.[1]  Similarly, the last year has seen several decisions by courts in the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits finding that ALJs, whose decisions are not reviewable by a Presidential appointee, lack constitutional authority under the Appointments Clause to adjudicate claims.[2]  The trend illustrated by these decisions, combined with the Supreme Court’s decision in June to abandon the Chevron doctrine of extending deference to federal agency rule-making proceedings, portend significant changes in the way employers interact with federal agencies that enforce labor and employment law. 

On Friday, June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council (“Chevron”)[1] in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (No. 22-451) and Relentless v. Dep’t of Commerce (No. 22–1219)[2] (the two cases collectively referred to as “Loper Bright”), bringing an official end to the decades-old and eponymously named “Chevron deference” doctrine. Not content to stop there, the Court returned fresh to work Monday, July 1, to, in Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (No. 22-451)[3] (“Corner Post”), effectively extend the limitations period to challenge final agency actions under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”).

On June 13, 2024, The Supreme Court ruled in Starbucks v. McKinney that the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) must meet the same four-part test that other litigants must satisfy in order to obtain a preliminary injunction. This holding resolves a split amongst the circuit courts, some of which have applied a “less exacting” two-factor test to preliminary injunctions under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).

Please join us for the next edition of Third Thursday – Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Update, a webinar series dedicated to helping our clients stay on top of developing law and emerging compliance issues. The EEOC has brought several lawsuits, including a widely-publicized case filed in Chicago against the CVS pharmacy chain, challenging several provisions commonly used by employers in settlement and release agreements. EEOC claims that such provisions inappropriately chill the right of the Commission to enforce Title VII and, by implication, other EEO statutes. These cases raise tricky questions about standard language use in many settlement agreements, including non-disparagement clauses and provisions requiring ongoing cooperation by former employees. Other cases, including private party litigation challenging the terms of release agreements intended to comply with the complex provisions of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, reveal several open issues about how best to frame release agreements, particularly in workforce restructuring situations. These developments make it a good time for employers to take another look at their waiver and release agreements. A panel of Crowell & Moring lawyers will review these issues in a roundtable discussion. We will focus on practical solutions for employers seeking enforceable settlement agreements. This webinar is scheduled for Thursday, August 21 at 12:00 pm EDT. We hope that you can join us for this timely and lively discussion.

Please join us for the next edition of Third Thursday – Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Update, a webinar series dedicated to helping our clients stay on top of developing law and emerging compliance issues.

Please join us for the next edition of Third Thursday – Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Update, a webinar series dedicated to helping our clients stay on top of developing law and emerging compliance issues. Only five months in, 2014 has already been a very busy year for the Office of Federal Compliance Programs (OFCCP).  This month’s program will focus on recent developments in affirmative action and OFCCP enforcement initiatives. 

Please join us for the next edition of Third Thursday – Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Update, a webinar series dedicated to helping our clients stay on top of developing law and emerging compliance issues.

Please join us on Wednesday, November 10 at 3 pm EST, for a follow-up presentation on the Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate.  The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force has issued additional guidance and certain federal agencies have elaborated on their policies for implementing the new federal requirements.  Our webinar will discuss key developments that have arisen in recent weeks, challenges that contractors are facing, and common questions.  We hope you will join us.  If there are particular topics or questions you would like us to address, we encourage you to reach out to any of the presenters in advance.

In this special edition, partners Tom Gies and Trina Fairley Barlow discuss legal issues government contractors face with regards to the implications of state laws legalizing marijuana use on employer drug testing programs. Crowell & Moring's "Fastest 5 Minutes" is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.