If you don’t know about the Powell Memo, you should. And, if you’ve heard of it, but haven’t read it, you ought to read it. The Powell Memo, written in 1971 by future Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell to the Chairman of the Education Committee of the U.S. C... More »
Last week we summarized the briefs submitted by petitioner New Prime Inc. and respondent Dominic Oliveira in New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira, as well as the briefs submitted by amici curiae for New Prime. Today we examine the briefs submitted by amicus curiae for ... More »
Yesterday we summarized the briefs submitted by petitioner New Prime Inc. and respondent Dominic Oliveira in New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira, the latest case before the Supreme Court to address the extent of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)’s reach in the em... More »
On October 3 the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira, the first arbitration case before the justices since they decided Epic Systems in May. Today we recap the briefs submitted this summer by petitioner New Prime Inc. and respo... More »
In ruling on a case involving the rights of telephone company employees to wear union t-shirts while they were working, Brett Kavanaugh began his opinion with the observation that “common sense sometimes matters in resolving legal disputes.” But, as the case ... More »
In 2010, a trainer at SeaWorld drowned when the killer whale she was working with during a performance “grabbed her and pulled her off the platform into the pool, refusing to release her.” The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigated ... More »
Yesterday, President Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh currently serves as a judge on the United States Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was nominated to the D.C. ... More »
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone that when faced with a choice between originalism and right-wing ideology, the Supreme Court’s two avowed originalists, Justices Gorsuch and Thomas, decided that they weren’t going to let doctrinal purity get in t... More »
In Chicago, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled in favor of sandwich franchise Jimmy John’s, who argued that the company cannot be liable for the FLSA violations of its individual restaurants. Jimmy John’s may control mayonnai... More »
“The day that organized labor has been dreading for several years is finally here,” Sarah Jaffe writes at the Times’ opinion page. Jaffe is one of many arguing that workers and their unions must get back to basics — to old fashioned organizing, to strikes mod... More »
In February, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Janus v. AFSCME. Today, a slight majority of the Court issued a decision that regrettably impacts far more than just “fair share” fees and the more than 40-year-old precedent established by Abood v. Detro... More »
Here’s a very quick summary based on an even quicker read of the Court’s Janus opinion which overrules Abood and holds that agency fees violate the First Amendment. The majority opinion by Justice Alito starts by reasoning that Abood was inconsistent “with sta... More »