United States: SDNY Judge Permits Use of Social Media to Notify Potential Opt-In Plaintiffs of Conditionally Certified Collective Action by Unpaid Interns

In an unpublished ruling last month, Federal Judge Alison Nathan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the request of counsel for a putative class of unpaid interns to use social media to target potential opt-in plaintiffs. The action, Mark v. Gawker Media LLC, is a challenge under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to the unpaid status of interns at Gawker Media.

Judge Nathan’s order permitting the use […]

By | December 30th, 2014 ||

United States: Mariah Carey May Be Singing The Blues: Sued for OT by Personal Assistant

People who employ domestic employees or personal assistants may forget that such employees are doing productive work when they are under the control and/or direction of the employer and if those work hours exceed forty in a week, overtime is owed. Mariah Carey may have forgotten that truism as she has been sued for overtime by her assistant.  The employee claims she is owed money for managing the singer’s domestic affairs and for services […]

By | December 30th, 2014 ||

Australia: CFMEU v BHP Coal – High Court upholds employer's right to terminate employee for breaching its code of conduct

In brief – Employee’s sacking not related to industrial activity or union views
The High Court has held that an employee was dismissed not for a reason which is prohibited by the Fair Work Act, but for violating a workplace conduct policy to treat colleagues with courtesy and respect.
Union claims that employee dismissed for participating in industrial activity
The case Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union v BHP Coal Pty Ltd [2014] HCA 41 arose from […]

By | December 30th, 2014 ||