A recent case has made clear that a government agency’s ceasing doing business with a company based on the viewpoints of the company’s owners can lead to First Amendment liability for the agency. Earlier this year, in Riley’s American Heritage Farms v. Elsasser, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the
"Court of Appeals"
Preparing Briefs on Appeal
An important part of the litigation practice is appellate law. One side can win in the trial court – by a motion to dismiss, on summary judgment, or after a jury trial – only to have the result overturned on appeal. The court of appeal can send the parties back for an entirely new trial,…
Can an Employer Change its Workweek to Limit its Overtime Obligations? California Court May be Out of Step
A California Court of Appeal decision recently went against existing authority interpreting the FLSA and found an employer’s change to employees’ FLSA workweeks with the purpose of limiting the employer’s overtime obligations to “evade” the overtime requirements of the FLSA. The decision has come under sharp criticism from a federal court.
Under the FLSA, an…
The Meaning of “Clothes” To Be Decided by U.S. Supreme Court
Section 203(o) of the Fair Labor Standards Act excludes from the definition of hours worked time spent “changing clothes or washing at the beginning or end of each workday” if it has been excluded “by the express terms of or by custom or practice under a bona fide collective-bargaining agreement.” However, the term “clothes” is…