Michelle Wyrick is a member of the Firm's Litigation & Dispute Resolution Service Team. She concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial litigation, labor and employment law, and litigation under the Employee Retirement ...
Written by: Michelle D. Wyrick
In Brown-Forman Corp. v. NLRB, Nos. 24-2107/25-1060, the Sixth Circuit reviewed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) order requiring Brown-Forman’s Woodford Reserve facility to bargain with the Teamsters Local 651 after the union lost a secret-ballot election. The NLRB upheld a finding that Brown-Forman ...
Written by Michelle D. Wyrick
On July 29, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued guidance on unlawful discrimination for recipients of federal funding. The guidance clarifies the application of federal antidiscrimination laws to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. It makes clear that the use of terms like “DEI” or ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
Currently, the Trump Administration’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) are in effect, although legal challenges continue. On March 14, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit stayed enforcement of a federal district court’s preliminary injunction ...
By: Michelle Wyrick
The EEOC published a fact sheet, “Wearables in the Workplace: The Use of Wearables and Other Monitoring Technology Under Federal Employment Discrimination Laws,” that addresses potential workplace issues with wearable technology often found in smart watches, smart glasses and helmets, and similar devices. ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
In September, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed four lawsuits against employers for alleged violations of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”). The PWFA requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees and applicants with limitations due ...
On April 23, 2024, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its long-awaited final rule raising the salary threshold for exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Under the FLSA, certain “white collar” employees are exempt from overtime requirements if they are: (1) paid on a salary basis; (2) paid ...
Written by: Michelle Wyrick
Groups opposed to the United States Department of Labor’s (“DOL’s”) new independent contractor rule have filed lawsuits challenging the rule, which is set to take effect on March 11, 2024.
What does the new rule do? The new DOL independent contractor rule, which was published on January 10, 2024, makes it ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
In Noah’s Ark Processors, LLC d/b/a WR Reserve, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) set out a number of remedies that it will consider in cases in which it deems that the respondent has shown “a proclivity to violate” the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “Act”) or has engaged ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
On October 19, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released a new “Know Your Rights” poster. Employers can download a hard copy of the poster here, and an electronic version of the poster here. The new poster replaces the EEOC’s previous “EEO Is The Law” poster.
Among other things, the ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick, with significant assistance from Molly Grace Baldock, one of our Summer Associates
A recent holding by the United States Supreme Court should caution employers utilizing arbitration agreements. Employers should be vigilant and compel arbitration as early as possible in the face of a lawsuit, or potentially waive ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
In General Counsel Memorandum 22-04, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo takes aim at “captive audience” meetings that include discussions about employees’ statutory labor rights. On April 7, 2022, she announced that she will ask the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) to find these mandatory ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) has withdrawn its vaccine or test emergency temporary standard (“ETS”), which covered employers with 100 or more employees, effective January 26, 2022. OSHA took this path after the United States Supreme Court stayed the ETS on January 13, 2022.
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
In Beckerich v. St. Elizabeth Medical Center, No. 21-105-DLB-EBA (E.D. Ky. Sept. 24, 2021), Judge David Bunning refused to enjoin an employer’s mandatory vaccination policy. Under the employer’s vaccination policy, employees were required to get a COVID-19 vaccination unless they submitted a request for an ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
On May 28, 2021, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its technical assistance guidance to address questions surrounding vaccines. The guidance confirms that under federal equal employment opportunity laws, employers may:
- require employees who physically enter the ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
On May 13, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) issued the welcome guidance that fully-vaccinated individuals[1] no longer need to wear masks or practice physical distancing except where required by federal, state, or local laws, including local business and workplace guidance, nor do they need to quarantine ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
The United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) has launched a new initiative named “Essential Workers, Essential Protections” that is designed to educate essential workers and their employers about laws that protect essential workers, including wage and hour laws. Examples of essential workers include workers ...
On April 21, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided that the long-standing contract bar doctrine should remain unchanged “at this time.” The Board invited public comment on whether to overturn or modify the longstanding precedent and considered 17 amici briefs from unions, employer advocates, and other lawmakers, in ...
The surge in unemployment claims resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an increase in unemployment insurance fraud. In fact, Kentucky took the unprecedented step of temporarily closing its unemployment claim system to address security concerns in connection with the wave of fraudulent unemployment claims. ...
In its Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) confirmed that, during a pandemic, an employer may require employees to wear personal protective equipment that is designed to reduce the transmission of infection ...
Michelle D. Wyrick and Joseph Profancik, a 2020 Summer Associate
As the country sets its sights on reopening the economy, many Americans are understandably hesitant to return to work. Although most states claim that COVID-19 has seen its peak, the number of daily infections reminds us that the virus is still looming all across the nation ...
Michelle D. Wyrick and Lilian Williams
As businesses begin the first stages of reopening or increasing employee capacity, many have implemented or intend to implement temperature screening procedures. Some businesses are required to screen employee temperatures as a precondition to open under state or local law, as seen in Kentucky, while ...
The Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet has published an employer handbook to answer employers’ questions about unemployment insurance and how it has been impacted by COVID-19 and the new federal programs enacted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. The ...
On March 25, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued notices that employers must post to comply with the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). The DOL has issued one notice for covered private sector employers, which can be found on its website here. A separate poster for federal government employers
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), retaliation again leads the way as the most frequently filed charge for Fiscal Year 2019. On January 24, 2020, the EEOC released its annual enforcement and litigation data, which showed retaliation as the leading charge, followed by disability ...
With few exceptions, employers with 100 or more employees and certain government contractors are required to submit a workplace profile, broken down by race, sex, ethnicity, and job category, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) by May 31, 2019. This year, covered employers must also comply with a ...
On March 25, 2019, Governor Bevin signed legislation providing that an employer may require an employee to sign an arbitration agreement as a condition of employment. The legislation, which amends KRS 336.700, is designed to reverse the Kentucky Supreme Court’s decision in Northern Ky. Area Development Dist. v. Snyder
On January 25, 2019, in SuperShuttle DFW, Inc. and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1338, Case 16–RC–010963, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) overruled its prior decision in FedEx Home Delivery, 361 NLRB 610 (2014), and returned to the common-law test that it previously used to determine whether ...
In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31 et al., held that non-union members cannot be compelled to pay agency fees to the union, delivering a blow to public sector unions. In doing so, the Court overruled Abood v. Detroit Board of ...
A little-known provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act should be of great interest to employers. In response to the #MeToo movement and the recent surge of sexual misconduct allegations, Congress included a provision in the Act that precludes employers from deducting (1) settlements or payments relating to sexual harassment ...
In a matter of great interest to many employers, last week, the United States Supreme Court agreed to decide whether arbitration agreements that prohibit employees from pursuing class and collective remedies are enforceable. Courts are currently divided on the issue. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in three cases ...
Now that Republicans control the Executive Branch as well as both Houses of the Kentucky General Assembly, Kentucky will soon join 26 other states that have enacted right-to-work laws. In states with right-to-work laws, no employee can be required as a condition of employment, to join a union or to pay dues to a labor union.
In light of the enforcement positions taken recently by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), which administer several whistleblower statutes, employers (and especially publicly-traded companies) should review the release provisions ...
Following recent news reports about Target’s bathroom controversy and North Carolina’s bathroom law, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has issued a Fact Sheet outlining its views on bathroom access rights for transgender employees under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. You can view the ...
Aiming to improve public service, ease the administrative burden on staff, and reduce the amount of paper submissions and files, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has begun using an online charge system. The new system allows an individual who has filed a charge of discrimination to check the status ...
With retaliation again reigning as the most frequently filed charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and retaliation charges having doubled since 1998, the EEOC has proposed updated guidance on retaliation. It seeks input on its proposed guidance through February 24, 2016. Comments may be ...
The National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB’s”) revised joint-employer standard spells trouble for businesses that rely on temporary employees or contingent workers and businesses that use the franchisor-franchisee model. Citing the dramatic growth in contingent employment relationships, on August 21 ...
On August 21, 2015, in Home Care Association of America v. Weil, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit cleared the way for the implementation of regulations extending the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA’s”) minimum wage and overtime provisions to many home care workers. The ...
Many employers use the United States Department of Labor’s (“DOL’s”) certification forms when evaluating and authorizing employee requests for family and medical leave. A few months ago, the DOL revised those forms. If you use the DOL forms, make sure you are using the updated forms.
Since the regulations under ...
Last week, the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") decided in 200 East 81st Restaurant Corp. d/b/a Beyoglu that “the filing of an employment-related class or collective action by an individual employee is an attempt to initiate, to induce, or to prepare for group action and is therefore conduct protected by Section 7” ...
Last week, the United States Supreme Court agreed to review Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, No. 14-1146, which gives the Court an opportunity to consider class certification questions about how damages may be proven in a class action and whether a class can include members who were not injured.
Tyson Foods is a donning and ...
In an important ruling for employers, on February 27, 2015, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that KRS 337.385 does not permit individuals to pursue claims for unpaid wages and overtime in Kentucky as class actions. See McCann v. The Sullivan University System, Inc., No. 2014-CA-000392-ME. The Court relied on the language ...
By Michelle D. Wyrick
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recently released enforcement statistics for fiscal years 2009 through 2013. Of particular note to employers, the Wage and Hour Division continues to process a high number of wage and hour complaints, with a particular focus on workers in low-wage industries ...
By Michelle D. Wyrick
A quick look at the EEOC’s press releases announcing the lawsuits it has recently filed demonstrates the agency’s apparent commitment to its Strategic Enforcement Plan. For example, the EEOC filed two lawsuits, one against a BMW manufacturing facility and one against Dollar General, alleging that the employers ...
By Michelle D. Wyrick
The short answer is yes, for federal employees, and possibly, for others. In Macy v. Eric Holder, Agency No. ATF-2011-00751, 2012 WL 1435995, the EEOC decided that a transgender applicant’s complaint of discrimination based on gender identity was cognizable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In Macy, a ...
By Michelle D. Wyrick
As we move into the dog days of summer, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) has announced its launch of a smartphone application that enables workers and supervisors to monitor the heat index at their work sites. The app, which is available in English and Spanish, is supposed to help prevent heat-related illnesses. It uses ...
By Michelle D. Wyrick
Recently, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced plans to pursue a new regulatory and enforcement strategy that would require employers to demonstrate compliance with certain federal employment laws. The DOL’s new initiative, named “Plan/Prevent/Protect,” puts the burden on employers to ...
By Michelle D. Wyrick
Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”) became effective on November 21, 2009. Title II of GINA prohibits the use of genetic information in making employment decisions, limits employers’ acquisition and disclosure of genetic information, and prohibits retaliation against individuals ...
By Michelle D. Wyrick
The Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (“VETS”) has announced an enforcement grace period for filing VETS-100 and VETS-100A reports. Although the filing deadline for the 2009 VETS-100 and VETS-100A reports was September 30, 2009, because of the high volume of e-mails and calls to the VETS-100 help desk ...
By Michelle D. Wyrick
The federal government’s stimulus plan spending has resulted in an increase in federal contracting, which has in turn caused an increase in affirmative action enforcement efforts. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) is authorized to conduct compliance reviews to ensure that contractors ...