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Please Click HerePosted on October 19, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
In a grievance arbitration case, an employee of sixteen years, with no prior record of discipline, missed a mandatory one-hour staff meeting at work. Following an investigation, the private company suspended the employee for three days without pay. The union grieved and a hearing was conducted before a staff arbitrator with the WERC. The arbitrator […]
Posted on October 15, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Last month, a staff arbitrator with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) issued a grievance decision interpreting certain language in a collective bargaining agreement regarding past practices. The WERC is a Wisconsin state agency responsible for the oversight and enforcement of the state’s public and private sector labor laws, including the conducting of hearings throughout […]
Posted on October 13, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Various challenges to the Clean Water Rule, issued by the EPA and the Corps of Engineers on June 29, 2015, and effective August 28, 2015, have been consolidated by the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. On October 9 the Sixth Circuit issued a stay of enforcement of the […]
Posted on October 13, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has affirmed a Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC) decision that denied additional benefits for an initially conceded injury based on the independent medical examiner’s (IME) review of comparative MRIs. David Dollar had pre-existing degenerative joint disease, as confirmed by a 2009 MRI. On June 23, 2011, while at work […]
Posted on October 13, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
I. Introduction The terms “waters of the United States” and “navigable waters of the United States” are two separate definitions applied by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) in different contexts pursuant to different statutes. Let’s suppose you want to construct a hydroelectric plant. A fundamental concern would be whether the newly constructed […]
Posted on October 5, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Recently, one of the National Labor Relations Board’s administrative law judges (“ALJ”) issued a decision that reminds would-be purchasers of unionized companies to proceed with caution before taking the plunge. The case is Riccelli Enterprises, Inc., available here: Riccelli_Decision. In Riccelli Enterprises, Inc., the ALJ was called upon to determine whether: (1) the purchaser of […]
Posted on September 9, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
A recent pronouncement by General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board has indicated that electronic signatures will be accepted on a union election petition filed with the NLRB. This clarification allows the union election process to be expedited to be even quicker than originally thought under the new “quickie election” rules promulgated by the […]
Posted on September 9, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
There are numerous pending lawsuits challenging the EPA and Corps of Engineers’ “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) Rule. The Rule took effect in thirty-seven states on August 28, 2015, after proceedings in three of these lawsuits. The explanation lies in procedural intricacy. Under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), original jurisdiction to challenge a rule […]
Posted on August 31, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Target Corporation has agreed to pay $2.8 million to settle charges filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging that the hiring process used for certain professional positions disproportionately screened out applicants based on race and gender. Target Corporation paid this settlement without admitting liability based upon a claim by the EEOC that it […]
Posted on August 27, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
The NLRB has again been rebuffed by the federal Court of Appeals in its pursuit of charges against employers for terminating employees due to the exercise of their protected speech rights. In a recent decision from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Court of Appeals found (albeit in a split decision) that the NLRB […]