WIRTW #439 (the “Texas teardrops” edition)

It’s been a bad week for the Department of Labor in Texas, and it could get a whole lot worse before the month is over.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings issued a permanent injunction preventing the DOL from implementing its controversial persuader rule.

Also this week, the Texas federal judge hearing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s challenge to the DOL’s impending overtime rule change (set to take effect Dec. 1) announced that he will issue a ruling by Nov. 22 on whether to enjoin the new white-collar salary threshold. Stay tuned.

If both cases go employers’ way, the DOL will definitely be crying Texas tears over its Thanksgiving turkey.


Here’s what else I read this week:

Federal judge takes NLRB to task for rules that protect racist and sexist workplace misconduct

Of all of the decisions the NLRB has handed down in the past eight years, those that let striking employees lob racists and sexist bombs at replacement workers crossing picket lines are the most offensive to me.

Consolidated Communications v. NLRB (D.C. Cir. 9/13/16) is one such case.

More compelling than the decision, however, is the concurring opinion written by Judge Patricia Millett, in which she calls on the NLRB to carry out its mission to protect the rights of all employees, not just those who happen to be walking a picket line. How can a picket line magically convert misconduct that is “illegal in every other corner of the workplace” into the “unpleasantries that are just part and parcel of the contentious environment and heated language that ordinarily accompany strike activity,” she asks? 

The newest threat to your cybersecurity? Your lunchroom appliances

Dinner is always a bit of cluster in my house. We are a home of two working parents, and, with music lessons and band rehearsals three nights a week, it seems that we are always scrambling for our evening meal. More often than not, we end up eating out, which is neither good for our wallets nor our waistlines.

What happens to the new FLSA salary test under President Trump?

The one employment-law question I’ve been asked most since waking up last Wednesday to the reality that The Donald will be The President (aside from, “How did this happen,” and for that I direct you to John Oliver’s excellent 30-minute soliloquy of an answer from his Sunday night HBO program—warning, language NSFW) is, “Does this mean that the new FLSA salary test won’t go into effect?”

The short answer? “No, it does not mean that.”

Employee’s misuse of medical leave grounds FMLA claim

Employers often tread too cautiously when handling employees on FMLA leave. Despite this caution, courts will to side with an employer that terminates an employee after uncovering abuses of FMLA leave.

Case in point? Sharif v. United Airlines (4th Cir. 10/31/16).

WIRTW #438 (the “White House” edition)

I heard that there was this huge meeting at the White House yesterday. 

A photo posted by Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) on Nov 10, 2016 at 1:14pm PST

#TheChamps #youthoughtiwastalkingabouttrump #JRputashirton

Here’s what I read this week.

How do we heal at work after this election season? [Updated]

As someone who’s been blogging as long as I have, nearly all of my life experiences run through my blogging filter. “How can translate this into a blog post about the workplace,” is a question I often ask myself. So this is the place in which I found myself yesterday. “What does a Trump presidency mean for labor and employment law?”