Employee Rights Briefing
July 2021
NELA And The Institute Have A New DC Home
NELA opened its DC office in 2006 in space subleased and shared with Passman & Kaplan, P.C. In 2008, Passman & Kaplan welcomed The Institute into their offices. We couldn’t have known that we would share 16 years with P & K, as we called the firm. They were more than just a landlord. Along with our “tenancy” came collaboration on a multitude of regulatory comments; spirited talk about politics; shared birthday and holiday desserts; and participation in Joe Kaplan’s annual bake-offs. We will miss P & K and are so grateful for their generosity and hospitality for all these years.
 
NELA and The Institute are thrilled to announce our new home. On May 27, we moved into our sunny space in the AFL-CIO building on Black Lives Matter Plaza (you may know it as 16th Street NW, near the White House)!
 
Our new address is:
NELA/The Institute
815 Black Lives Matter Plaza
Washington, DC 20006
Our phone number and email addresses remain the same.
 
We look forward to new collaborations with our labor colleagues and we say a big thank you to NELA member Yona Rozen, Associate General Counsel at the AFL-CIO, whose introduction of us and support for NELA made it happen!
In The News
On May 5, the Department of Labor withdrew the independent contractor rule passed by the Trump administration. The withdrawn rule would have made it more difficult for workers to be classified as employees.
On May 25, the Senate confirmed Kristen Clarke as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She is the first Black woman to lead the division.
Law Professor Veena Dubal published a research paper demonstrating that Prop 22 represents a “new form of legalized racial subordination” by forcing immigrants and people of color into precarious work with lower wages and no benefits.
On June 10, the Department of Labor issued workplace safety rules for COVID-19. The new requirements regarding masks, social distancing and proper ventilation will only apply to workers in health care settings.
A terminated Uber driver filed a lawsuit against the company alleging that its racially discriminatory customer ratings disproportionately impact drivers of color. On June 11, a District Court judge rejected Uber’s motion to dismiss, stating that “the inference that Uber’s practice is racially discriminatory is...strong.”
On June 25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting Older Workers Against Age Discrimination Act, which, if enacted, would mandate that age discrimination claims must be given the same legal treatment as sex and race discrimination claims.
Workers' Rights By The Numbers
10%
The percentage of employers that believe COVID-19 vaccinations should be mandatory for returning employees.
3.5 Million
The decrease in the number of workers in the workforce since February 2020.
In The Courts
The Supreme Court declined to review a 3rd Circuit ruling reversing summary judgement for Uber on a misclassification claim. The 3rd Circuit held that the lower court prematurely determined that Uber drivers were not employees under the FLSA and Pennsylvania wage and hour laws.
In Rosales v. Uber Techs., a California Court of Appeal denied Uber’s motion to compel arbitration of the plaintiff’s PAGA claim, and held that the threshold question of whether the plaintiff was an employee or independent contractor could not be delegated to an arbitrator.
On June 21, the U.S. Supreme Court on declined to review a First Circuit decision holding that Amazon delivery drivers are transportation workers exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act and can pursue their misclassification claims in court.
On June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that labor unions cannot organize farm workers at the farms that employ them.
A Texas District Court dismissed medical workers challenge to Houston Methodist Hospital’s vaccine mandate, marking it as the first federal case to issue a ruling on mandatory vaccine policies. The case is Bridges, et al. v. Houston Methodist Hospital et al.
The Employee Rights Briefing is a monthly newsletter designed to help keep you up-to-date on breaking news and emerging trends impacting America's workers. From the growth of forced arbitration of employment disputes, to employee misclassification, to stories of wage theft and workplace discrimination, the Employee Rights Briefing reports on employment law and policy developments from the federal government to state legislatures to the courtroom and everywhere in between. Our goal is to provide you with a digestible snapshot of the events shaping employment law and policy, so that you can be kept abreast of the most important issues facing today's workers.
The Employee Rights Advocacy Institute For Law & Policy
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