LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW CASES

• Hamm v. US
• Ferrer v. Chevron Corp.
• Smith v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec.
• Wenner v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada
• Macy v. Hopkins County Sch. Bd. of Educ.
• Littriello v. US
• Krueger Int'l, Inc. v. Royal Indem. Co.
• Gwin v. Am. River Transp. Co.
• Farmers Auto. Ins. Ass'n v. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co.
• Bombaci v. Journal Cmty Publ'g Group
• Hoosier Care, Inc. v. Chertoff
• Hillstrom v. Kenefick
• Christensen v. Titan Distrib., Inc.
• Miles v. Bellfontaine Habilitation Ctr.
• Tipler v. Douglas County, Nebraska
• Fischer v. Andersen Corp.
• Brubaker v. Metro. Life Ins. Co.
• Brodowy v. US
• Savaglio v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
• Frank v. Los Angeles County

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, April 11, 2007
Hamm v. US, No. 06-3964
Dismissal of case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the Federal Tort Claims Act is affirmed as the general New York rule that employees are not acting within the scope of their employment when commuting to work applies to a military reservist who was traveling from his home to the U.S. Army Reserve Center, thus the U.S. cannot be liable under respondeat superior. Read more...

U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 12, 2007
Ferrer v. Chevron Corp., No. 04-61102
In a suit against plaintiffs' former employer, Chevron, alleging it breached fiduciary obligations under ERISA by misrepresenting the eligibility requirements for obtaining enhanced benefits under its retirement plan, dismissal of the ERISA claims is affirmed where plaintiffs failed to allege a causal connection between Chevron's alleged misrepresentations and their entitlement to receive enhanced retirement benefits. Read more...

U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 09, 2007
Smith v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., No. 06-1625
A denial of disability insurance benefits to claimant by the Social Security Administration is affirmed over her claims that the decision neither complied with the treating source regulation nor was supported by substantial evidence. Read more...

U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 12, 2007
Wenner v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, No. 05-6534, 05-6740
A district court's rejection of a plan administrator's decision to discontinue disability benefits to a company's COO under his employer's disability benefits plan is affirmed on an alternate ground that the plan administrator violated the notice requirements of ERISA. The remedy of reinstating the benefits retroactively is also affirmed as plaintiff had an expectation of continued benefits until they were terminated by lawful procedures. Read more...

U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 12, 2007
Macy v. Hopkins County Sch. Bd. of Educ., No. 06-5722
In an action brought by a physical education teacher alleging that a school board violated federal and state law by firing her because she was disabled and in retaliation for protected activities, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where plaintiff failed to present evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that the board's proffered reason for firing her was pretextual, and she forfeited her retaliation claims and state-law claims. Read more...

U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 13, 2007
Littriello v. US, No. 05-6494
In a challenge to the Treasury Department's so-called "check-the-box" regulations, which were promulgated in 1996 to simplify the classification of business entities for tax purposes, summary judgment for the government is affirmed where the district court: 1) correctly held that the regulations were "a reasonable response to the changes in the state law industry of business formation"; 2) upheld them under Chevron analysis; and 3) held that plaintiff was individually liable for the employment taxes at issue. Read more...

U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 09, 2007
Krueger Int'l, Inc. v. Royal Indem. Co., No. 06-2611
In a suit over indemnity under an employment practices liability insurance policy, summary judgment for insurer is affirmed where there was neither a breach of an oral employment agreement nor a misrepresentation that constituted an insurable act that the insurer was obliged to indemnify against. Read more...

U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 10, 2007
Gwin v. Am. River Transp. Co., No. 06-2900
In a suit alleging violation of a law preventing discharge of a seaman for refusing to perform duties ordered by his employer if the duties would result in serious injury, denial of defendant's motion for judgment as a matter of law is affirmed where a jury could reasonably find that one of the plaintiffs was ordered to engage in activities he deemed unsafe. Denial of defendant's motions for costs is reversed and remanded where: 1) a voluntary dismissal without prejudice renders the opposing party a "prevailing party" for purposes of recovering costs; and 2) the district court abused its discretion by not explaining its decision to deny defendant's motion to compel payment of a deposed expert's fees. Read more...

U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 10, 2007
Farmers Auto. Ins. Ass'n v. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co., No. 06-2810
In a suit between two insurance companies over defendant's denial of coverage for plaintiff's employment practices liability policy, judgment for defendant is affirmed where an exclusion clause in the insurance contract was sufficiently defined to exclude coverage of violations of the Illinois Minimum Wage Law. Read more...

U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 10, 2007
Bombaci v. Journal Cmty Publ'g Group, No. 06-2222
In a suit alleging sexual harassment and retaliation, summary judgment for defendant-employer on the sexual harassment claim is reversed where plaintiff offered evidence from which a jury reasonably could find that JCPG required her to work in a discriminatorily hostile or abusive environment by acting negligently in discovering or remedying the harassment. Read more...

U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 11, 2007
Hoosier Care, Inc. v. Chertoff, No. 06-3562
Denial of petition for classification of two aliens as eligible for "employer-based" immigration is reversed where the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) erroneously determined that the minimum qualifications for the open positions were not appropriate. Such a determination is the responsibility of the Department of Labor, and DHS is limited to determining whether or not an applicant meets the minimum qualifications. Read more...

U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 09, 2007
Hillstrom v. Kenefick, No. 05-3974, 05-3975
In a malpractice and ERISA action arising from a claim for long-term disability benefits, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed over claims that: 1) the plan was now advancing reasons for denying benefits different than those given at the time benefits were denied; and 2) contrary to the findings below, plaintiff was eligible for benefits as he was an employee for purposes of the plan issued to defendant. Read more...

U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 10, 2007
Christensen v. Titan Distrib., Inc., No. 06-2760
In an appeal arising from a jury verdict finding an employer discriminated against plaintiff based on his disability and age when it refused to hire him, judgment and awards for plaintiff are affirmed over claims that: 1) defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, a new trial because the evidence was insufficient to support either the disability discrimination verdict or the age discrimination verdict as well as the awards for punitive, emotional distress and liquidated damages; and 2) the district court abused its discretion in awarding plaintiff front pay. Read more...

U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 12, 2007
Miles v. Bellfontaine Habilitation Ctr., No. 06-2318
Dismissal of plaintiff's pro se Title VII employment discrimination and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) action against a habilitation center is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) as an agency of the state, defendant was entitled to immunity on the FMLA claim; but 2) the court erred in dismissing plaintiff's Title VII claim for failing to exhaust her administrative remedies, as this is an affirmative defense, and defendant did not challenge plaintiff's statement in her complaint that she had exhausted her remedies. Read more...

U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 12, 2007
Tipler v. Douglas County, Nebraska, No. 06-2553
In a suit brought by a female correctional officer alleging gender discrimination under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 and Title VII, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) balancing the county's reasonable reassignment policy with the minimal restriction on plaintiff's employment, summary judgment on the Title VII claim was proper; and 2) the section 1983 claim failed as, in classifying based on gender, the county employed means that were substantially related to achieving important government objectives. Read more...

U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 13, 2007
Fischer v. Andersen Corp., No. 06-2273
In an action claiming that plaintiff's employer, with the intention of interfering with his rights to future pension benefits, forced him to take early retirement in violation of section 510 of ERISA, summary judgment for employer is affirmed as plaintiff failed to introduce facts sufficient to demonstrate an adverse employment action for purposes of his ERISA interference claim. Read more...

U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, April 10, 2007
Brubaker v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., No. 06-7096
In a suit by former employees of a company who mistakenly received an offer for a benefit given to certain of the company's retired workers, summary judgment for the defendant-company is affirmed where, even if the erroneous offer could have created an obligation to the plaintiffs, the term "retired," read in context of applicable pension plan documents, did not encompass the plaintiffs. Read more...

U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, April 12, 2007
Brodowy v. US, No. 2006-5113
In an action brought by current or former Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers seeking to recover pay lost due to the government’s failure to provide them with a pay increase when they transferred to higher level airport facilities, dismissal of their complaint for lack of jurisdiction is affirmed where, although the trial court had jurisdiction over the claim, plaintiffs failed to state a claim for which relief could be granted. Read more...

California Appellate Districts, April 09, 2007
Savaglio v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. A110120, A111606
In a statewide class action involving claims that Wal-Mart denied meal and rest breaks to thousands of employees, partial grant of Wal-Mart's belated motion to seal records under California Rule of Court 2.551 is reversed in part where Wal-Mart waived its right to file such motion, and, in any event, the trial court lacked discretion to entertain it. Denial of newspaper organization's request for attorney's fees in the matter is affirmed. Read more...

California Appellate Districts, April 12, 2007
Frank v. Los Angeles County, No. B169427
In a race discrimination class action brought by a class of minority peace officers, judgment finding defendant county liable for back pay and other relief is reversed as plaintiffs failed to establish a basis for a disparate impact claim as a matter of law, and the jury’s verdict on disparate treatment was not supported by the evidence. Read more...