The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held Friday that the protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) apply to “all workers,” including those work in the marijuana industry. This case arose when a former employee sued Helix TCS, a company that provides security services for businesses in Colorado’s state sanctioned marijuana [...]
The US House of Representatives on Friday approved a 2018 act disallowing mandatory arbitration of workers’ legal claims. The bill, entitled the “Arbitration Fairness Act,” or the “The FAIR Act” for short, would prohibit employers from forcing their employees to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. Mandatory arbitration typically prevents employees from bringing [...]
Federal lawmakers on Thursday proposed a bill that would require companies to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy in a courtroom close to their principal place of business, rather than where they are incorporated. The bipartisan bill, called the Bankruptcy Venue Reform Act of 2019, hopes to spread bankruptcy cases throughout the US to ensure that [...]
JURIST is pleased to announce the winners of our first ever student commentary competition. The contest invited current law students to submit an article analyzing a current legal news event. JURIST received articles from students around the world. The winners are as follows: First Place: Anne Bloomberg from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law [...]
California Governor Gavin Newson signed legislation Thursday aimed at protecting so-called “gig economy” employees. Assembly Bill No. 5 is expected to impact drivers for ride share apps such as Uber and Lyft. However, the legislation also can affect other independent employees. The legislation has amended Section 621 of the Unemployment Insurance Code to define an [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that the city of Troy, Michigan, violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) when it denied the Adam Community Center’s application for a zoning variance to operate as a place of worship. The complaint, filed in the US District [...]
President Donald Trump on Thursday continued efforts to prevent access to his tax returns by asking a federal judge in New York to block criminal prosecutors from accessing his tax documents. The Manhattan District Attorney recently subpoenaed Trump’s accountants, requesting eight years worth of state and federal returns. The records were requested as part of [...]
US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Robert O’Brien, current top hostage negotiator, will be named as the new National Security Advisor. This comes following the firing of John Bolton from the post last week. This will be Trump’s fourth National Security Advisor, following Bolton, Michael Flynn, and HR McMaster. O’Brien was recently involved with [...]
US District Judge Lawrence Piersol issued a temporary injunction on Wednesday, blocking a recently enacted South Dakota anti-riot act. The act was drafted by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in anticipation of protests against the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, slated to start in 2020. The court adopted the defendant’s suggestion of intermediate [...]
The Trump administration announced Thursday that it is revoking California’s waiver to issue its own vehicle emission standards. California’s Clean Air Act waiver was issued by the Obama administration in 2013 and allowed the state to set emission requirements for new automobiles sold in the state independent of the federal EPA’s promulgated requirements. Since automakers [...]
