- California tenure lawsuit exposes rift between Democratic establishment and teachers’ union [Sean Higgins, Washington Examiner]
- NLRB pushing new interpretation to sweep much outsourcing into “joint employment” for labor law purposes [Marilyn Pearson, Inside Counsel]
- Restaurant “worker centers” campaign against tipping. Perhaps a sign their interests not fully aligned with waitstaffs’? [Ryan Williams, DC]
- NLRB’s edict against non-union employers’ confidentiality policies emblematic of its activist stance lately [Karen Michael, Times-Dispatch]
- Three public sector unions spent $4.3 million on Connecticut state political activities in 2011-2013 cycle [Suzanne Bates, Raising Hale]
- Sen. Lindsey Graham prepares funding rider to block NLRB “micro-union” recognition [Fred Wszolek, background]
- “Table Dance Manager” glitch alleged: “Exotic dancers + allegedly malfunctioning software = Fair Labor lawsuit” [Texas Lawyer]
Posts Tagged ‘Connecticut’
Adventures in employment agreements
The town of Stratford, Connecticut entered an employment agreement with its director of human resources, stating that his employment would be entirely at-will and further providing:
Based upon the annual performance evaluation, and at the [m]ayor’s sole discretion and recommendation, the base salary may be increased on July 1 of each fiscal year, subject to the approval of the [council], which by Charter fixes the salaries of all mayoral appointees.
Subsequently, the town council voted to reduce the manager’s salary, and the dispute went to litigation. Both a trial court and a Connecticut appeals court agreed with the manager’s argument that even though the document prescribed an at-will relationship, by specifying that the base salary “may be increased” it was implicitly promising that it would never be decreased. [Daniel Schwartz; Adams on Contract Drafting]
Connecticut politicos to employers: please hold our coat for 8 years while we govern
“It is a truism that laws tend to be arranged for the benefit of the political class.” Even so, would you expect Connecticut law to provide that private employers must hold open the jobs of full-time elected officials for as much as eight years in case they decide to return? My new blog post at Cato has details.
Food roundup
- “Particularly relevant …is the uncontested fact that Defendants – as manufacturers of [high-fructose corn syrup] – do not control how much HFCS is used in the finished products that Plaintiff consumed.” [New York federal court dismissing case, h/t Nicki Neily]
- New frontier of public health disapproval: Girl Scout cookies [NPR]
- “Former Kellogg Co. CEO Carlos Gutierrez says food industry is under attack by FDA” [MLive]
- Whole milk, least processed of widely available milk varieties, would be banned in Connecticut childcares if pending bill passes [Elizabeth Nolan Brown]
- House-passed expansion of Jones Act domestic-flag rules for food aid would harm hungry recipients and US farmers alike [Coyote]
- “Archaic distribution laws” hamper craft-beer sector [Steve Hindy, NY Times, related Nick Gillespie (Florida)]
- Facing mounting fiasco in school lunch program, feds double down [Baylen Linnekin, Reason]
Labor and employment roundup
- Resistance mounts to NLRB’s revived “ambush unionism” plans [Epstein Becker Green, Fred Wszolek, three members of Congress/Washington Times, earlier]
- Fifth Circuit: employer’s blanket “don’t talk about company personnel or financial matters” policy violates NLRA [Texas Employment Law Update, Jon Hyman]
- Minimum wage: “Silver Bullet or Poisoned Chalice?” [U.K.-based Institute of Economic Affairs] Nonmonetary impact of minimum wage hikes found “not only in reduced fringe benefits but in increased work demands and decreased job training”” [Richard McKenzie/NCPA via Tyler Cowen]
- Connecticut lawmakers press for pro-labor-union curriculum in public schools [AP/Albany Times-Union]
- Labor/employment, tougher regulatory enforcement top business concerns in new Norton Rose litigation trends survey;
- Incumbent practitioners, not consumers, nearly always the ones pushing for tougher occupational licensure [David Stokes’s Missouri testimony, Show-Me Institute, PDF]
- Court again upholds Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s public sector labor legislation against challenge [Journal-Sentinel, earlier here, etc.]
Mandates for paid sick leave
Labor and left-wing advocates are staging a concerted push for this measure, which opponents say is particularly burdensome to small business. “Supporters cite their success in gaining the enactment of paid sick day laws in Connecticut and six U.S. cities — the District of Columbia, Jersey City, N.J., New York City, Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Seattle–as proof that the campaign is gaining momentum.” Opponents are fighting back with, among other steps, legislation passed in at least ten states specifying that municipal home rule does not include the authority to enact ordinances of this sort. [Rhonda Smith, Bloomberg BNA]
Police and corrections roundup
- “Cops or soldiers? America’s police have become too militarized” [The Economist survey and related editorial] Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) introduces bill to rein in police militarization [Radley Balko]
- “Connecticut City Will Have to Re-Hire Cop Fired for Premature Decision to Use Deadly Force” [Ed Krayewski, Reason]
- “No, legalizing medical marijuana doesn’t lead to crime, according to actual crime stats” [Emily Badger, WaPo] New Marijuana Law Policy and Reform blog from Doug Berman of Ohio State;
- “While their agency minders weren’t looking, the Border Patrol has developed a substantial excessive force problem.” [Dara Lind, Vox]
- “Los Angeles Cops Argue All Cars in L.A. Are Under Investigation” [Jennifer Lynch, EFF/Gizmodo]
- Kansas family spent $25K establishing that loose tea leaves, hydroponic gear were reasons for SWAT raid on their home [KSHB, Radley Balko]
- “Kids Doing Time For What’s Not a Crime: The Over-Incarceration of Status Offenders” [Marc Levin and Derek Cohen, Texas Public Policy Foundation, PDF] More: Balko.
Labor and employment roundup
- Minimum wage laws are sentimental legislation with all-too-real effects [Jeffrey Dorfman] “Our Business’s Response to California $2 Minimum Wage Increase” [Coyote, with more on a union angle on minimum wage laws] Some experience from Europe [Steve Hanke, more, Cato overview of minimum wage debate]
- Connecticut fires state labor department employee who gamed system to get benefits for friend, then reinstates after grievance [Raising Hale] Oldie but goodie: union contract in Bay City, Mich. gave teachers five strikes to show up work drunk before being fired [Mackinac Center two years back]
- Background of Harris v. Quinn, now before SCOTUS: Blagojevich and Quinn favors for SEIU [George Leef, Forbes, earlier here, etc.]
- If you decline to hire applicants who’ve sued previous employers, you may face liability over that [Jon Hyman]
- More on class action seeking pay for volunteer Yelp reviewers [LNL, earlier]
- “Intriguingly, returns to skills are systematically lower in countries with higher union density, stricter employment protection, and larger public-sector shares.” [Eric Hanushek et al, NBER via Cowen]
- “L.A. Sheriff’s Department Admits Hiring 80 Problem Officers; May Not Be Able to Fire Them” [Paul Detrick, Reason]
Environmental roundup
- “A Milestone to Celebrate: I Have Closed All My Businesses in Ventura County, California” [Coyote, earlier]
- “Louisiana Judge Ends Katrina Flooding Lawsuits Against Feds” [AP/Insurance Journal]
- “Some shoppers who reuse plastic bags to dispose of animal waste will miss them” [L.A. Times via Alkon]
- Alameda County, Calif. conscripts out-of-state drugmakers into product disposal program: public choice problem, constitutionality problem or both? [Glenn Lammi, WLF]
- “Connecticut, Drunk on Power, Uses Bottle Bill to Steal Money” [Ilya Shapiro]
- “If successful, the New York lawsuits would extend the scope of the [habeas corpus] writ to an undefined array of nonhuman creatures.” [Jim Huffman, Daily Caller]
- Clean Water Act citizen suits never intended to be race to courthouse between officialdom, bounty hunters [Lammi, WLF on Eleventh Circuit ruling]
- Let’s stop measuring congestion, it just makes our environmental plans look bad [Randal O’Toole, David Henderson on California policy]
“Push to ban crime box on job applications expands”
The federal EEOC has been helping prepare the ground with guidance indicating that it legally disfavors asking job applicants about criminal records across a wide range of situations. Meanwhile, activists in places like San Francisco seek local laws banning the practice in private employment, following successful campaigns to end it in the public sector. [San Francisco Chronicle]