Lake Co. judge strikes down Indiana right-to-work
A Lake County judge struck down Indiana's right-to-work ban on certain union fees in a second legal blow to the contentious law passed in 2012.
labor and employment
Articles
Fired DOC counselor’s sex-discrimination claim revived by 7th Circuit
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a former Department of Correction substance abuse counselor’s lawsuit alleging sex-discrimination and hostile work environment, finding she was treated differently as compared to the employee she had an affair with while working at a maximum-security prison.
COA tosses injunction issued after alleged workplace threat
An injunction against an employee who allegedly told a company therapist that he was going to blow his supervisor’s head off is void because it arose from a labor dispute, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
Lawsuit: Afghanistan subcontractor cheated workers
Federal investigators are examining whether a military subcontractor underpaid scores of medical workers in Afghanistan, pocketing federal funds that the government intended the company use to pay its employees.
2 contractors accused of wage violations accept plea deals
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office has reached plea agreements in two cases in which a contractor was accused of paying workers less than the required wage on publicly financed projects.
Cochran/West: How to advise employees about government investigators
In-house attorneys advise employees on many topics, but do the employees of your company know what to do during a government investigation?
7th Circuit affirms Wisconsin’s limits on unions, Indiana RTW challenge remains
While still considering a challenge to Indiana’s right-to-work law, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed Wisconsin’s statute limiting the collective bargaining power of some public sector unions.
Judgment for investment advisor upheld as breach, wage claim
Rulings in favor of an investment adviser who claimed breach of contract and violation of the Wage Claims Act were affirmed Monday by the Indiana Court of Appeals, as was his request for appellate attorney fees.
Boulukos: Guiding clients through an executive intervention
When an executive’s substance abuse triggers a personal and professional free fall, colleagues may be slow to recognize that the bottom is coming – and fast. At some point, and hopefully before permanent damage has been done, the fact that the leader has become a liability is impossible to ignore.
Fort Wayne case may force SCOTUS to define who qualifies as a minister
Since the Supreme Court of the United States weighed in on “ministerial exception” in January 2012, cases have been percolating across the country spurred by religious institutions claiming the exception as protection against employee discrimination lawsuits.
When non-competes don’t fly
Aviation mechanic Joe Guinn lost a job when his former employer sought to enforce a non-compete clause, but he won an appellate ruling that the company may have engaged in tortious interference with his subsequent employer.
NLRB does not challenge ‘poster rule’ decisions
With the deadline for filing a petition passed, the National Labor Relations Board appears to have backed away from its so-called “poster rule.”
State appeals ruling against right-to-work law
Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced Wednesday the state has asked the Indiana Supreme Court to reverse a Lake County judge’s order invalidating the right-to-work law that bans compulsory union dues.
COA: County officials not bound to collective bargaining agreement
An issue of first impression arose in a lawsuit in which a local union argued that the Madison County assessor and recorder had to follow the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that the county had entered into with UAW.
Column: Decision provides protection from ERISA retaliation
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a key decision affecting the rights of employees who complain internally to their employers about failures to properly fund employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
SCOTUS to hear Indiana steelworkers’ case Monday
This question arising in an Indiana labor case will be before the Supreme Court of the United States on Monday: What does “changing clothes” mean?
Battle over RTW heats up in courts
When Lake Superior Court Judge John Sedia handed Indiana’s right-to-work law a pink slip, conventional wisdom held that the Indiana Supreme Court would overturn that decision and put the law back to work.
Changes may prompt review of background check policies
For more than 20 years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has taken the position that an employer’s use of applicants’ criminal history in making employment decisions may constitute discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. The underlying premise has always been that because minorities are historically and statistically arrested and incarcerated at higher rates than their representation in the general population, the use of criminal records by employers in making hiring and retention decisions may be discriminatory.
Question remains as to whether son is ‘child’ under Wrongful Death Statute
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in favor of the defendants on two parents’ claims under the Child Wrongful Death Statute regarding their 21-year-old son who died in a car accident. The appellate court found a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the informal apprenticeship the son was participating in at the time of his death would be considered a vocational program under the CWDS.
Justices: Voluntary associations must comply with Wage Payment Statute
The Indiana Supreme Court Tuesday ordered more proceedings on a fired union employee’s complaint seeking payment for unused vacation time. The justices held that she is entitled to accrue vacation pay unless there was an arrangement or policy to the contrary, which is in dispute in this case.