Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Dartmouth Refuses to Bargain With Men’s Basketball Team Union As the next chapter in the Dartmouth College men’s basketball players union dispute, Dartmouth... View Article
On March 8, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas invalidated the National Labor Relations Board’s joint-employer final rule, meaning the rule did not go into effect on March 11, as was anticipated. The NLRB will likely appeal the ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The final rule... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Dartmouth College May Appeal NLRB’s Decision Allowing Basketball Players to Unionize The Dartmouth College men’s basketball team voted 13-2 to unionize, selecting the... View Article
On March 5, 2024, the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team voted 13-2 in favor of joining the Service Employees International Union. The election marks the first time in nearly a decade that student-athletes have been authorized to vote for union representation and may be the first case in which their election results in certified representation.... View Article
During calendar year 2023, union organizing continued to rise at institutions of higher education. Data from the National Labor Relations Board on union organizing show that 31.2% of all private-sector workers who successfully unionized in 2023 were employed by institutions of higher education. Public institutions also saw considerable union activity, though this is not reflected... View Article
On February 23, a federal judge with the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee issued a preliminary injunction barring the NCAA from enforcing its rules prohibiting name, image and likeness compensation for recruits. The injunction applies nationwide. The policy in question prohibited student-athletes from negotiating and signing NIL contracts prior to enrolling at... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Basketball Players Are Employees of Dartmouth, NLRB Concludes—Union Vote Scheduled for March 5 Student-athletes on the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team will vote... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. University of California May Test Federal Ban on Hiring Undocumented Workers The University of California may be the first public institution to challenge... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. California Becomes First State to Mandate Workplace Violence Prevention Plans Under a new law, the first broad state law of its kind, most... View Article
On October 26, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released its final rule amending the standard for determining joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The rule replaces the board’s 2020 final rule on the same issue and greatly expands joint employer status under the NLRA. The final rule establishes joint... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Governor Newsom Vetoes Bill That Would Ban Caste Discrimination California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed what would have been the first specific state ban... View Article
Members OnlyOn June 14, the Biden administration released its Spring 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Regulatory Agenda), providing the public with an update on the regulatory and deregulatory activities under development across approximately 67 federal departments, agencies and commissions. This release serves as the first Regulatory Agenda for the 2023 year, setting target... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. NLRB Rules Graduate Student Fellows With No Teaching or Research Assistant Responsibilities Are Not University Employees and Cannot Unionize A National Labor Relations... View Article
On March 22, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo to all field offices with guidance on the Board’s recent decision in McLaren Macomb, in which the Board decided that employers cannot offer employees severance agreements that require employees to waive rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), such... View Article
On February 21, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its decision in McLaren Macomb deciding that employers cannot offer employees severance agreements that require employees to waive rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), such as confidentiality and non-disparagement requirements. The Board explained in its press release on the decision that if an... View Article
WEBINARS CUPA-HR > NLRB Responding to the NLRB’s Ruling on Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Clauses in Employee Agreements Thursday, March 30 | 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET Sponsored by WATCH NOW Presentation Slides Other Materials Poll Results The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently issued a key decision holding that an employer commits an unfair labor practice merely... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Divided Court of Appeals Rules That Separating Bathrooms By Biological Sex Does Not Violate the Constitution or Title IX — Transgender Student’s Discrimination... View Article
On December 15, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)’s Region 31 announced it will pursue a complaint against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Pac-12 Conference and the University of Southern California (USC) for violating the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by misclassifying student-athletes as non-employees, unless the matter is settled. On February 8,... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. EEOC Disavows Publicly-Expressed Views of Former General Counsel Regarding Abortion Travel Issues The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) took the rare step of... View Article
As the 2022 midterm election nears, Congress has turned its focus to campaigning and essentially halted legislative action until after the election. Despite the lack of activity from Congress, federal agencies have continued to push forward with anticipated regulatory actions in the labor and employment policy area. This blog post details some of the regulatory... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. University Football Coach’s First Amendment Retaliatory Discharge Claim For Posting “All Lives Matter” Sign On His Office Door Proceeds A federal district court... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. EEOC Reaches Settlement Banning Employer Collection of Family COVID-19 Testing Results — GINA Implications In a case involving a dermatology medical practice in... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Supreme Court to Determine Scope of Highly Paid Executive Employee Exemption Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) The U.S. Supreme Court will... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. National College Players Association Files Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against the NCAA and Multiple Public and Private Colleges, Asserting College Basketball and Football... View Article
On February 8, the National College Players Association (NCPA), an advocacy association for college athletes, filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the University of Southern California, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Pac-12 Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The charges allege that the... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. U.S. Supreme Court to Review Harvard and UNC Affirmative Action Admission Policies In Consolidated Case The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear and... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. NCAA Loses Appeal For Expedited Ruling Denying Student-Athletes’ Minimum Wage FLSA Claims — Claims Move to Federal Court Trial The National Collegiate Athletic... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate Blocked Nationwide By Georgia Federal Court, Georgia Universities Testified in Favor of the Injunction A federal district court judge... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Federal Appeals Court Panel Expresses Skepticism Regarding New York City Teachers’ Challenge to the Constitutionality of the New York City Vaccine Mandate for... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Several States Consider Legislation Aimed at Softening Federal Workplace Vaccine Mandates The Arkansas legislature recently passed legislation which would soften the federal employer... View Article
On September 29, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo released a memorandum stating her position that student athletes (or “Players at Academic Institutions,” as she refers to them in the memo) are employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and are afforded all statutory protections as prescribed under the law. Abruzzo... View Article
Though August is typically a quiet time in Washington, D.C., legislative activity the first half of the month remained steady in preparation for a busy fall. To keep members updated on what to expect, the CUPA-HR government relations team pulled together the following summary of recent actions that will continue to take shape after Congress... View Article
On July 15, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a nomination hearing on David Weil to serve as the administrator of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL), as well as Gwynne Wilcox and David Prouty to serve as members of the National Labor Relations Board... View Article
On April 26, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Worker Organizing and Empowerment (EO), which creates the Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment (Task Force). Citing the decline in union density, the EO and newly created Task Force aim to “encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining and to promote equality of bargaining power between... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira. Court of Appeals Reinstates Professor’s First Amendment Free Speech and Religious Discrimination Challenge to University’s Preferred Pronoun Policy on Transgender Students The U.S.... View Article
On March 12, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced it would be withdrawing its 2019 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (proposed rule) addressing the extent to which students who perform services for private higher education institutions are considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The official Notice of Withdrawal will be published in the... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of several labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira: Trump Workplace Diversity Training Executive Order Halted by Federal District Court Nationwide A federal judge blocked President Trump’s ban on “divisive” workplace diversity... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of some labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira: Immigrant-Insensitive Social Media Post Is Insufficient Grounds for School District to Discharge Teacher Who Had Received Commendations for Inclusiveness A California appeals court... View Article
On January 15, 2020, CUPA-HR, the American Council on Education (ACE), and other higher ed associations, filed comments in response to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on student workers. The proposed rule essentially states that student workers at private institutions are not considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of some labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira: University Volleyball Coaches Lose Age and Sexual Orientation Discrimination Termination Lawsuit The University of Delaware’s head women’s volleyball coach (age 55) and 56-year-old... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of some labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira: NLRB Proposes Administrative Rule That Would Make Graduate Students Ineligible to Unionize The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently announced its consideration to... View Article
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) indicated in the federal government’s May 22 spring regulatory agenda that it plans to issue a proposed rule by September addressing the extent to which students who perform services for private higher education institutions are considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Under the NLRA, employees working in the private... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of some labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira: NYU Prevails in ERISA Class Action Case NYU received a complete victory in the first of more than approximately a dozen ERISA class... View Article
On June 6, Peter B. Robb, general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), issued guidance to regional directors on how to evaluate workplace rules and handbooks in light of the Board’s decision in The Boeing Company, 365 NLRB No. 154 (2017). The guidance applies to handbooks in both union and nonunion workplaces at... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of some labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira: States Consider Sexual Harassment Remedies and Prevention Reforms to Supplement Title VII With the advent of the “me too” movement, many state legislatures... View Article
On December 15, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued an important ruling for higher education in PCC Structurals Inc. abandoning the Obama Board’s 2011 Specialty Healthcare decision, which allowed employees to organize in “micro units.” The PCC Structurals decision reinstated the previous standard that employees have to share an “overwhelming community of interests” to be an appropriate bargaining... View Article
On December 1, Peter Robb, the newly-appointed general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), issued his Mandatory Submissions to Advice, a customary practice for all new general counsels, setting forth the types of unfair labor practice charges and issues that the NLRB’s regional offices should send to the NLRB’s Division of Advice in... View Article
On August 10, Marvin E. Kaplan was sworn in as a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a term ending on August 27, 2020. Kaplan, who was serving as counsel to the commissioner of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, previously served as counsel to the U.S. House Oversight and Government... View Article
Members OnlyThe primary function of a labor union is to serve as a legal intermediary between employer and employee in the negotiation of terms, conditions and benefits of employment, in order to secure a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the employer and the union-represented employee(s). Common foci of CBA negotiations include improvements to pay, benefits, job... View Article
After an exciting and, for many, surprising November election, Congress returned to the Capitol to finish up their business for the 114th Congress. The major piece of business that had to get done before Congress could go on recess was finding a way to fund the government. On the night of December 9, the Senate... View Article
Browning-Ferris Industries has appealed the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)’s August 27 ruling (known as the BFI case) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In BFI, the Board greatly expanded the decades old “joint employer” standard under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). This new standard creates additional liabilities for private-sector... View Article
On January 13, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) invited the filing of briefs to address the underlying issues that are raised in Columbia University — namely, whether it should revisit its Brown University ruling which states that graduate students are not employees and therefore cannot unionize. The NLRB invitation for amicus briefs comes roughly... View Article