Newsroom

Posted November 5, 2018

Don Lewis to Receive “Profiles in Courage” Award from MABL

The award is given to those who have “demonstrated courage, excellence, and integrity in furthering the Association's mission of representing the interests of black citizens in the legal profession and judicial system.” Don will be recognized for his career-long work on highly visible and controversial investigations—including his appointment as special prosecutor on the Jeronimo Yanez/Philando Castile case (Castile was fatally shot by police officer Yanez during a traffic stop in 2016).

Posted September 17, 2018

Don Lewis Named Outstanding Director for Work with HealthPartners

Nilan Johnson Lewis is proud to announce that Don Lewis has been recognized by Twin Cities Business as a “2018 Outstanding Director” honoree for his work on the Board of Directors of HealthPartners. Lewis will be honored for his dedication and exceptional work in the course of his board service at an award ceremony on the evening of October 10, 2018.

Posted August 29, 2018

New Illinois Law Requires Employers to Reimburse Employee Expenses

Illinois employers should prepare for California-style expense reimbursement class claims when a new law takes effect next year, which potentially includes demands to reimburse personal cell phones and home internet use.

Posted August 21, 2018 with Tags Paid Sick Leave, Courtney Blanchard, Paid Sick and Safe Leave, Courtney Blanchard attorney

San Antonio Becomes Second City in Texas to Require Paid Sick Leave

On August 16, 2018, San Antonio became the second city in Texas to pass a paid sick leave ordinance, which requires that employers provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. While the ordinance takes effect on January 1, 2019, most of the requirements do not become effective until August 2019.

Posted July 27, 2018

California Employers On the Hook for Tracking Employee Time

On Thursday, July 26, the California Supreme Court held that California employers may no longer ignore or fail to compensate for small amounts of time that non-exempt employees work simply because recording that time is administratively difficult. This is an alarming departure from the de minimis defense employers have for federal wage-and-hour claims and warrants immediate attention by California employers.

Posted July 16, 2018 with Tags Paid Sick Leave, Courtney Blanchard, Paid Sick and Safe Leave, sick leave ordinances

Massachusetts Reforms Employment Laws to Include Generous Paid Family Leave Program

On June 28, 2018, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed a bill reforming several employment laws and creates one of the most employee-generous paid family and medical leave programs in the country. The program, which will be funded by a combination of payroll deductions and employer contributions, guarantees up to 26 weeks of paid leave for current and some former employees, and allows self-employed contractors to opt into the program.

Posted July 9, 2018

Twenty Nilan Johnson Lewis Attorneys Named to 2018 Minnesota Super Lawyers & Rising Stars Lists

Eleven attorneys from NJL have been selected to the 2016 Minnesota Super Lawyers list. Seven attorneys from NJL have been selected to the 2016 Minnesota Rising Stars list.

Posted June 4, 2018 with Tags Wage and Hour, Wage and hour issues, California Wage and hour

In California, Ignorance of Complex Wage Laws is No Excuse

A California employer that does not pay its employees all required wages upon termination is liable for both the underpayment of wages and, if the failure to pay is “willful,” a “waiting time” penalty of up to 30 days’ wages. This is one of the ways a California wage-and-hour violation can become a very expensive mistake.

Posted June 2, 2018

Nilan Johnson Lewis Named a Best Law Firm for Female Attorneys

Nilan Johnson Lewis (NJL) is proud to announce that it has again been named to Law 360’s “Best Law Firms for Female Attorneys” list, a ranking published as part of the news organization’s annual Glass Ceiling report. The firm placed No. 18 among all U.S. legal services firms employing at least 20 but fewer than 150 lawyers.

Posted June 1, 2018 with Tags Paid Sick and Safe Leave, Minnesota Paid Sick Leave, Duluth Paid Sick Leave, sick and safe leave, Minnesota Paid Sick and Safe Leave, Paid Sick Leave, Courtney Blanchard

Duluth Adopts Paid Sick and Safe Leave Beginning in 2020

On May 30, 2018, the Duluth City Council passed an ordinance requiring private employers to provide paid sick and safe leave to employees, following other Minnesota cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul. The ordinance takes effect on January 1, 2020. Because this is a contentious issue, we expect to see additional amendments before the ordinance takes effect.

Posted May 30, 2018 with Tags Labor and Employment, #MeToo, sexual harassment audits

Taking a Second Look: Best Practices for Auditing Past Sexual Harassment Claims

The #MeToo movement shed a light on the fact that sexual harassment in the workplace is still a major problem, and employers need to reassess their policies and practices. Supporting the personal experiences of women, the Pew Research Center recently …

Posted May 22, 2018

Supreme Court Gifts Employers with Big Arbitration Win

On May 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a huge win to employers in its much-anticipated decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis. Writing for a five-person majority, Justice Gorsuch upheld the validity of agreements that require employees to arbitrate claims against their employer or an individual—as opposed to a class or collective—basis. The court had been called to determine whether such class/collective waivers violate an employee’s right to engage in “concerted activities” as provided in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Federal courts had been at odds on this issue, and the Supreme Court consolidated three cases to resolve the disagreement.

Posted May 21, 2018 with Tags pre-employment selection, Joe Schmitt, ban the box, pre-employment

Banning the Box… with a Blanket

July 15, 2018, marks the 20th birthday for “ban the box” legislation, e.g., the practice of removing the checkbox found on job applications for divulging past criminal records so that candidates’ qualifications can be considered without the stigma of past …

Posted May 17, 2018 with Tags NLRA, NLRB, david james

Employers Are Walking the Tightrope Between Maintaining a Civil Work Environment and NLRA Compliance

Lately, employers have often found themselves performing a difficult balancing act between compliance with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and maintaining a non-hostile work environment. This stems from two recent cases brought before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), …

Posted May 10, 2018 with Tags veena iyer, Minneapolis Paid Sick Leave, Paid Sick and Safe Leave, Courtney Blanchard

Minneapolis Paid Sick Leave Faces Legal Fight on Extraterritorial Application

On May 9, 2018, the Hennepin County District Court issued an order largely upholding Minneapolis’s Sick and Safe Time Ordinance, which provides for sick and safe leave. However, Minneapolis cannot enforce the ordinance against non-resident employers (i.e. employers that do …

Posted May 7, 2018 with Tags Joe Schmitt

Where Society’s Reckoning with Gender Pay Gaps Leaves Today’s Employers

U.S. Census Bureau data indicates that in 1960, a woman made 60 cents to every dollar made by a man. Fifty-six years later, things haven’t changed much. The median male between the ages of 25 and 54 earns $41,000 whereas the …

Posted May 3, 2018 with Tags Paid Sick Leave, Courtney Blanchard

Airlines Cry Foul Over Patchwork Paid Sick Leave Laws

Imagine a situation where a flight attendant wakes up in Las Vegas, flies to Washington, and catches a flight back to his or her home base in the Midwest. In Washington, there is mandatory paid sick leave law for employers …

Posted May 1, 2018

Did the California Supreme Court Instantly Poison the Gig Economy?

On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued a ruling in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v Superior Court that will make classification of workers more complex and threaten the gig economy business model. The Court ruled that employers must now rely on the standard commonly referred to as the “ABC” test in order to determine whether workers are employees or independent contractors.

Posted April 30, 2018 with Tags Employment Attorney, Age discrimination

Court Rules Unintentional Age Discrimination Can Occur During Application Process

On April 26, 2018, the 7th Circuit ruled that job applicants—not just employees—can assert age discrimination claims arising from facially neutral hiring policies. In Kleber v. CareFusion Corporation, the court departed from recent rulings by other courts—most recently the 11th Circuit in Villareal v. R.J. Tobacco Co.—which have held that only employees can claim that a company’s activities or policies had a “disparate impact” due to age.

Posted April 16, 2018 with Tags noncompetes, anti-poaching laws

DOJ Signals There Are Lawful “No-Poaching” Agreements

In January 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) communicated that it would ramp-up criminal enforcement actions against companies that have no-poaching agreements, which in past years have been seen by the DOJ as a hall-pass allowing employers to avoid competing for workers, stifle demand in a market, and keep wages lower. A recent settlement with three employers, however, has reinforced the notion that not all no-poaching agreements are the same and helped define which kinds of no-poaching agreements may or may not lead to civil or criminal liability.