In today’s news and commentary, unions push to block Google from buying Spirit Airlines employment records, and the U.S. Department of Labor sues Oklahoma coffee chain over alleged wage violations.

Last month, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO and the Air Line Pilots Association objected to Google’s proposal to buy Spirit Airlines employment records. Google’s proposed $10 million purchase of Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc.’s business and employment data is set for a September 30^th approval hearing at the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York,. Unions are pushing back against the potential sale, which would give Google access to internal communications and payroll records, and union activity or collective-bargaining files. In response to concerns from a bankruptcy privacy ombudsman, Google said the purchase doesn’t include personally identifiable information. Most state privacy laws don’t protect worker data, and no legal framework currently exists under bankruptcy law to safeguard employee data. Robert Drain, a former New York bankruptcy judge noted, “I think the court will take the union’s motion seriously and may well press Google on what it can do to ensure the scrubbing of the personnel records without meaningful cost to the buyer.”

Next, the U.S. Department of Labor is suing Oklahoma coffee chain Not Your Average Joe, alleging that employees were denied tips with proper wages and that minors were allowed to perform work prohibited under federal child labor laws. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, identifies 320 employees who may be entitled to compensation. In addition to pooling tips, the Labor Department alleges that the coffee chain owner would sometimes distribute tips weeks or months after the pay period when tips were received. The Department of Labor is asking a court to find the company liable for all tips and wages due from September 12^th 2023 through to trial.