News & Commentary

July 1, 2016

Vivian Dong

Vivian Dong is a student at Harvard Law School.

The United Parcel Services Inc. and the Independent Pilots Association, which represents UPS’s more than 2,500 pilots, have come to a new five-year labor agreement.  Negotiations over the contract have gone on for the last five years.  The IPA will recommend the new contract to its members.  If the new contract is ratified and approved, it will become effective on September 1.  UPS and the IPA have not released to the public details of the agreement, but the IPA assures that it provides for “improvements across all sections.” UPS Airlines president Brendan Canavan lauded the “excellent offer.”

In Smith v. Milville Rescue Squad, the New Jersey Supreme Court expanded state discrimination law to protect divorcing or separating workers.  The plaintiff, an employee of defendant for seventeen years, was fired after he informed his supervisor he’d likely divorce his wife, also an employee of defendant.  The employer then fired the plaintiff on grounds of “very poor” performance and “operational restructuring.”  The New Jersey Supreme Court held that New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”), which prohibits discrimination based on “marital status,” extends to someone separating or separated from their spouse and in the process of obtaining a divorce.

Major European cities have started an aggressive courtship of London’s massive financial services industry in the wake of Brexit.  Paris, Berlin, and Frankfurt are among cities who have made efforts to welcome businesses currently based in London.  Within hours of the announcement of the result, the City of Frankfurt rolled out their online campaign, which includes a website and LinkedIn ads, to persuade Britons to move to Frankfurt.  Several companies, including banking giants HSBC and JPMorgan Chase, have already announced they are considering moving jobs from London to EU states.  If Brexit actually occurs, a question still up in the air, there could a major shift of banking and other professional services jobs to the Continent.

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