Melissa Greenberg is a student at Harvard Law School.
This post is part of OnLabor’s continuing analysis of National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA.
Bloomberg BNA reports that in National Labor Relations Board v. Alternative Entertainment, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit joins the Seventh and Ninth Circuits in upholding the NLRB’s position and finding that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) prevents employers from requiring their employees to pursue workplace-related claims individually. In contrast, the Fifth and Eighth Circuits’ reading of the Federal Arbitration Act allows class arbitration waiver provisions to be held enforceable despite the NLRB’s claim that this kind of arbitration provision violates Section 7 of the NLRA.
This decision comes two weeks before opening briefs are due in the consolidated case of Murphy Oil, Epic Systems, and Ernst and Young before the Supreme Court. In the consolidated case, the Supreme Court will be asked to resolve the circuit split.
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May 14
MLB begins negotiating; Westchester passes a new wage act; USDA employees sue the Agriculture Secretary.
May 13
House Republicans push for vote on the SCORE Act; Wells Fargo wins 401(k) forfeiture appeal; Georgia passes portable benefits bill.
May 12
Trump administration proposes expanding fertility care benefits; Connecticut passes employment legislation; NFL referees ratify new collective bargaining agreement.
May 11
NLRB Judge finds UPS violated federal labor law; Tennessee bans certain noncompetes; and Colorado passes a bill restricting AI price- and wage-setting
May 10
Workers at the Long Island Rail Road threaten to strike, and referees at the National Football League reach a collective bargaining agreement.
May 9
HGSU wraps up its third week on strike and economists find that firms tend to target workers with “wage premiums” for AI replacement.