On June 30, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the trial court’s decision to grant Kurt Mix, a former BP engineer, a new trial after it was discovered that the jurors had been exposed to extrinsic evidence bearing on the general prosecution of BP employees…
Today, Pillsbury attorneys Julia Judish and Ken Taber published their client alert titled New York City Bars Employers From Considering Criminal History Before Extending A Job Offer. This Alert discusses Mayor de Blasio’s recent approval of the Fair Chance Act, a new law that generally prohibits New York City employers…
Today, Cal/OSHA issued a high heat advisory urging all employers and, in particular, employers in the Sacramento Valley and adjacent foothills to protect their outdoor workers from heat illness. It advised that temperatures are expected to rise to highs of 115 degrees through Friday morning. Information is available online (Heat…
Responding to an inquiry from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday, in a 5 to 4 decision, that the “coercive nature” of the administrative proceedings employed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act’s (CERCLA)…
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) recently posted on its L&I Blog a blog titled “I survived,” a cautionary tale about how fall protection saved a construction work from a 30′ plunge. In early May, Apollo, Inc. employee Tanner Kane was using a bar to pop forms…
Beginning July 1, 2015, in Washington, to protect against unlicensed electrical contractors fraudulently obtaining electrical work permits, electrical contractors purchasing electrical permits using the paper application form will be required to print their name and mark their affiliation with the company on the permit application. The customer service representative will…
Today, Pillsbury Paula Weber and Erica Turcios published their client alert titled Uber Hits a Speed Bump in California: Labor Commissioner Rules Driver is an Employee. This Alert discusses a recent decision that may signal a more stringent application of the test for determining independent contractor status. The California Labor…
Yesterday, Pillsbury attorney Julia Judish published her client advisory titled DOL Invites Comments on Requirement That Bidders Disclose Employment Law Violations. The Alert discusses President Obama’s Executive Order 13673, called the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Order; the Order uses the prospect of gaining or losing an edge in winning…
In the case of Association of Irritated Residents v. EPA, decided June 23, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a petition for review filed after EPA acknowledged that it had mistakenly approved certain New Source Review (NSR) rules affecting ozone emissions in California’s Central Valley (which…
An important Fifth Amendment Takings Clause case was decided today. The U.S. Supreme Court, by reversing the Ninth Circuit, has terminated the decades-old litigation over the Department of Agriculture’s administration of the California raisin “marketing order.” The case is Horne, et al. v. Department of Agriculture. Chief Justice Roberts, writing…