Oregon Governor John Fitzahaber has been working with leaders from both the business and labor communities to find a compromise measure on tax increases that might be palatable to the public. However, in a move that has elicited strong reactions from both business and labor groups, a union-backed organization called Our Oregon recently proposed ballot… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Current Affairs
Community Radio Station Involved in Labor Dispute
When most people hear the term “labor dispute” they normally picture a large corporation with several layers of disconnected managers and unfeeling personnel policies. While there are many – too many – cases of this sort, even small, seemingly labor-friendly nonprofit organizations can become embroiled in employment rights disputes. Nonprofit Radio Station Tries to Streamline… Read More
Exempt or Nonexempt, Why Does It Matter?
What type of employee are you? One that logs every hour of the week or one that has an annual salary? To many Washington employees, his or her classification as exempt or nonexempt may seem like a HR technicality and consequently they pay very little mind to it. The truth is that your employee classification… Read More
Oregon Combats Unemployment Fraud by Intercepting Tax Refunds
Almost everyone knows that the economy – across the world as well as within the United States – has been troubled for the last several years. As a result, many hardworking individuals have been forced to rely on unemployment benefits to help cover their basic living expenses while they try to reenter the job market…. Read More
Court Finds For Apple Growing Company in Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Suits
A lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Evans Fruit, one of the largest apple growers in the United States, was recently dismissed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. This dismissal, in conjunction with the EEOC’s loss of a related trial, has been a boon to Evans… Read More
Federal Judge Refuses to Certify Class Claims against Comcast
Class action lawsuits – in which a large group of people sue a defendant claiming that each has been injured in some similar way – are often used a convenient way of settling many similar claims in one action, rather than clogging up the legal system with multiple, duplicative suits. However, one of the major… Read More
Victory for Oregon Employee in Domestic Partnership
Margaret Fonberg worked as a law clerk for the federal court system in Oregon. Fonberg and her same-sex partner could not legally marry in Oregon, but instead registered as domestic partners under the Oregon Family Fairness Act. The Act entitles registered domestic partners to all the same rights and responsibilities as married couples in the… Read More
An Overview of Minimum Wage for 2014
As discussed previously on this blog, minimum wage was a hot topic in 2013 and is expected to continue to be so in this New Year. In fact, the issue of raising the minimum wage at the federal level is expected to be a key issue in the 2014 midterm Congressional elections. Furthermore, Democrats in… Read More
Oregon Employees Lead Starbucks Class Action Suit
Oregon Employees Lead Starbucks Class Action Suit Three former Starbucks employees in Oregon recently filed a class action lawsuit in Oregon federal court against the coffee giant, claiming they made less than minimum wage because of the way the company dealt with tips on paystubs. According to the complaint, employees divide tips proportionally to the… Read More
Will the US Supreme Court Clarify Whether Its Decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes Applies to All Class Actions (Including Wage and Hour Class Actions)?
That’s certainly what the Retail Litigation Center (RLC) and a group of business associations are hoping. This group recently filed a “friend of the court” (amicus curiae) brief with the US Supreme Court urging the Court to hear an appeal of the Seventh Circuit’s decision in RBS Citizens, N.A. v. Ross. The group explained its… Read More