On September 11, 2015, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in Billy Schumann, et al v. Collier Anesthesia, P.A., et al, where Kwall, Showers, Barack & Chilson, P.A. represents a class of Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists (“SRNAs”). The entire order can be found here. The SRNAs were students at Wolford College, a for-profit […]
Category: News
Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects President’s Recess Appointments in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning
Today, in NLRB v. Noel Canning, a labor law case with much broader implications, the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same result as the D.C. Circuit – that the recess appointments at issue were invalid – but based its conclusion on different reasoning. This case arose when a 3-member National Labor Relations Board panel held that Noel […]
Senate Votes to Protect LGBT Workers from Discrimination
Yesterday, the United States Senate voted (64-32) to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (“ENDA”). Although ten republican senators voted in favor of the legislation, there is little hope that it will pass the republican-controlled House of Representatives given Speaker John Boehner’s lack of support. Still, this is a move in the right direction for equal […]
Florida Minimum Wage to Increase to $7.93
The Department of Economic Opportunity has announced a 14-cent increase in the minimum wage. As of January 1, 2014, the minimum wage in Florida will increase from $7.79 per hour to $7.93 per hour. For tipped employees, the hourly minimum wage will increase from $4.77 to $4.91. The Florida minimum wage remains higher than the […]
The Effect of DOMA’s Fall on Employment Law
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Defense Against Marriage Act is unconstitutional. This has some employment law implications. In states which recognize marriage equality, same sex spouses will have more rights. Let’s look at the FMLA first. The Family Medical Leave Act provides medical leave to employees to care for themselves or a […]
U.S. Supreme Court Limits Employee Rights Under Title VII.
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two opinons limiting an employee’s rights under Title VII. Title VII retaliation claims must be proved according to traditional principles of but-for causation, not the lessened causation test stated in §2000e–2(m). In University Of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, the Court held that in retaliation cases – as […]
Attorney Ryan Barack Interviewed in Universal Health Care Case
On March 29, 2013, WFLA in Tampa ran a story on the shutdown and how it will affect the workers. Attorney Ryan Barack was interviewed. Watch the story and read the accompanying article here.
Employee Rights Group Releases A Critical Report on the Florida Commission on Human Relations
The Florida Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, a group of lawyers dedicated to representing employees in employment matters, has released a report on the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR) – and it is not a favorable one. The report addresses many concerns with the way the FCHR handles discrimination claims and makes […]
Employment Legislation of the Future
By now, we’ve all heard (at least 287 times) that the first bill President Obama signed into law in 2009 was the Lily Ledbetter Act. The Lily Ledbetter Act expanded the remedy for pay discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to allow a new 180-statute of limitations to begin running with each unequal […]
Obama Proposes Changes to FLSA for Home Care Workers
The Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal law that governs minimum wage and overtime, has long exempted home health care workers for its requirements. Thus, the people who take care of the elderly and the sick are often not compensated at minimum wage or given overtime. On Friday, President Obama took the first steps in […]