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.
labor and employment
Articles
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.
SCOTUS ruling limits worker harassment claims
The case of Vance v. Ball State University hinged on the definition of 'supervisor.'
SCOTUS decides high-profile cases in term’s final weeks
The Supreme Court of the United States issued the final decisions of the 2012 term June 26. In addition to the Vance v. Ball State University ruling on the definition of “supervisor,” several of the decisions handed down during waning days of the term promise to have far-reaching impact.
SCOTUS rules in favor of Ball State in hostile work environment suit
In a 5-4 decision Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States has upheld the decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that a woman failed to prove she was subject to a hostile work environment at Ball State University.
Dismissal of Navistar workers’ complaint upheld by 7th Circuit
A group of unionized workers laid off by an Indianapolis engine plant who brought an action for breach of the collective-bargaining agreement didn’t provide enough factual content in their complaint to allow it to proceed in court, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.