Punishment by litigation

Sometimes doubling down on a doomsday strategy can work, but more often than not, it does not, is expensive, and has dire ultimate consequences. The issue of retaliatory litigation and whether a labor organization can prevail against an employer is a significant one. The Supreme Court addressed the issue in BE and K Construction. More after the jump.

Social media discovered

A New York trial court has ruled that a personal injury plaintiff has no reasonable expectation of privacy on her Myspace and Facebook pages even those protected by privacy settings. Romano v. Steelcase, Inc. throws around legal concepts and seems to take a more difficult path to reach its result than necessary, but it provides a good source of citation to cases from several jurisdictions.

Social Media as litigation tool

The New York State Bar has issued an ethics opinion that accessing the public pages of a social network site to gather information on a litigation opponent is ethical. HAt Tip to the always interesting Adjunct Law Prof Blog.

Dead EFCA beaten again

Dead horse beaten for lively political purposes.dead horse, EFCA, labor reform, political posturing

Sanity flu out the window

Do three in ten healthcare workers really intend NOT to get a flu shot? Do almost 50% of an "at risk" group (those over 65) really intend NOT to get a flu shot. And does over thirty percent of the public believe flu shots don't work? Is this a non-political example of the ever increasing gulf between fact and opinion that seems to afflict the public?

Hoffa draws opponent for presidency

Longtime Teamster and President of New York Teamster Local 805, Sandy Pope, says she intends to challenge James P. Hoffa for the presidency of the International union next year. Pope, active in Teamsters for a Democratic Union, has been a Teamster for 30 years. About 30% of the 1.3 million member union is female.

Technical!

The National Basketball Association (NBA) wants to cut down on complaints and gestures which show insufficient respect for the referees or the game. Arguing a call or other offensive conduct, even if not directed at the game official may result in a technical foul. Technical fouls can also lead to player fines. The players association file unfair labor practices in the 2006-07 season, and again threatens legal action. Griping at work about work rules certainly is protected by the National Labor Relations Act. Can the league establish a business justification for the muzzling of the complaints? Would a technical foul remedy do as much injury to the game as complaining?

Happy campers

Ever wonder whose got job satisfaction? Here is an analysis of the top 50 happiest occupations.

Dead horse again

EFCA is a dead horse that keeps getting beaten. If anymore proof is necessary look at what these candidates in close senate races are saying. Truly labor has itself to blame here for insisting on card check as the cornerstone of labor law reform. All that insistence did is create a sound bite for the opposition. "We oppose getting rid of secret ballot elections." By its own insistence labor allowed itself to be portrayed as undemocratic and even unAmerican. There is zero chance EFCA will get passed in a lame duck session.

Too few jobs, too little spending

Paul Krugman says its because there was inadequate government spending on things that create jobs.

SEIU wins Kaiser showdown with 67% of vote

As always Randy Shaw has an informative piece on the NUHW loss to SEIU in the Kaiser election.

Net job loss caused by public sector decline

Government sector employment declined by 159,000 last month while private sector jobs increased by 64,000 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate remained at 9.6%.

$$$$$ 20-1

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says for the 2010 midterms, he expects unions to be out spent 20-1 by "corporate groups aligned with Republicans."

Local Sodexho employees picket

Employees of Sodexho serving the Recovery School District and Loyola and Tulane Universities have been picketing to publicize complaints about low wages and other grievances.

Avondale job losses

AFL-CIO blog correctly characterizes the Avondale layoffs, which are underway, as a huge economic disaster for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. As our marshes erode so do manufacturing jobs. While it may be hyperbole to compare the effects of the Avondale closure to the BP oil spill, long term it may not be.

Acting General Counsel bares teeth

The NLRB's Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon has announced his intention to consider seeking 10(j) injunctions when employees are fired during organizing campaigns. Section 10(j), authorizes the NLRB to seek preliminary injunctions from federal courts to protect victims of unfair labor practices pending litigation.

Symphony strike

Detroit Symphony contemplates its 5th strike since 1969. The big issue is paycuts affecting the average base salary of $104,650.

Scaby!

More on the rat from WaPo.

Rats! again

Bloomberg has an article about the inflatable rat. Former New Orleans labor attorney Bill Lurye is quoted. Bill is now Associate General Counsel with the AFL-CIO.

Public employee speech - Protected?

Public employees free speech rights are limited. Those unaware of that concept need to read up on Garcetti v. Ceballos, and review subsequent developments, particularly case law in the Fifth Circuit. But what happens when an employee is not disciplined for provocative if not outrageous speech, as in this case where an assistant attorney general takes out after a gay college student in a blog. Isn't the nexus between the AAG's job and allegations of what may be criminal misconduct by the college student sufficient to make discipline for the remarks appropriate under Garcetti? Probably, but there has been no discipline so far. So what happens if another AAG (or some other public sector employee)speaks out in support of the college student, or in opposition to the issues raised by the first AAG, and is disciplined? Does Garcetti prevent even getting to the Pickering test requiring a justification for content based distinctions?

Rising costs of health insurance

The average cost of family health insurance coverage rose 3% to $13,770 in 2010, while at the same time the employee's share of the cost jumped 14% ($482).

Tax cuts for business

President Obama has signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act which, among other things, will allow all businesses to write-off 50 percent of the cost of depreciable property purchased and placed in service anytime during 2010.

FMLA claim costly for employer

MNNBC focuses on the plight of a retail store manager who claims she was coerced into returning to work too soon after surgery. Using this anecdotal incident the author claims the economy is creating widespread fear of job loss in those who are entitled to take sick leave. However there is little additional information supporting the premise. After being fired the manager successfully sued winning an eye-popping $8.1 Million jury verdict or FMLA violations.

Yikes!

According to a recent survey, more than half of unemployed workers receiving a job offer received one involving at least a 25% reduction from their former compensation.

More GM jobs created

Only the political crazies still complain about saving our domestic auto companies being a bad idea. GM is creating jobs again, and that is indisputably a good thing.