Hannah Finnie is a writer in Washington, D.C. interested in the intersections of work and culture. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
A Black contract worker at Tesla who alleged he was racially discriminated against at the California-based Tesla factory he worked at won his lawsuit, though a federal judge this week pared down the damages that a jury awarded him. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing is suing the same factory for racial discrimination and harassment.
A lawsuit against Fox News alleging sexual harassment will test whether or not a new law carving out sexual harassment and assault claims from arbitration agreements will apply retroactively, according to a Bloomberg Law article. The question centers on whether or not the law, which was enacted in March, 2022, covers arbitration agreements made before the law was passed.
Since it was revealed that Starbucks hired Democrat-affiliated PR firm Global Strategy Group (GSG) to help prepare its anti-union strategy, a campaign has continued to get pro-labor Democrats in Congress to stop working with the organization. For example, Rep. David Cicilline, who supports the pro-labor PRO Act, continues to work with Global Strategy Group and has recently been targeted for the continuing connection. Other progressive groups have dropped their ties with Global Strategy Group, including MoveOn.
Finally, President Biden’s Department of Labor released an Equity Action Plan describing both actions the department has already taken to “embed equity in everything the department does” and how it plans to continue doing so moving forward. The plan is available here.
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September 20
Culinary Workers Union members protests union leadership; lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft reveal internal concerns about the threat of AI training to human labor.
September 17
Unions push to block Google from buying Spirit Airlines employment records; U.S. Department of Labor sues Oklahoma coffee chain over alleged wage violations.
September 16
Trump nominates Catherine Eschbach as EEOC general counsel; NLRB declines to resolve union work-assignment dispute; Allina Health physicians begin four-day strike.
September 15
Documents reveal the inner workings of Amazon's union avoidance program; Washington state public sector unions reach tentative deals amid a difficult bargaining cycle; hundreds of Nevada Culinary Union members protest their union's health care changes.
September 14
NCAA and Big Ten file motion to dismiss in former star player's NIL suit; Seventh Circuit rules against former postal worker in discrimination suit.
September 13
Documents released on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks show that city officials encouraged workers to return to Ground Zero despite knowing the risks of asbestos exposure, and new polls demonstrate continued widespread support for labor unions.