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Quick Hits In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts that have stayed claims in pending actions under Section 3 of the FAA maintain jurisdiction to confirm or vacate the resulting arbitral awards under sections 9 and 10 of the FAA. In this case, the original employment discrimination claims were sufficient to establish the federal district court’s jurisdiction. The Court ruled that the original claims also established…

Quick Hits The Supreme Court recently found that freight brokers can be sued for negligent hiring after accidents involving motor carriers selected for interstate transport of goods. The FAAAA does not override state laws concerning negligent hiring of unsafe motor carriers. The FAAAA preempts state laws related to prices, routes, and services for commercial trucking companies and brokers. However, a safety exception allows states to maintain safety regulatory authority with…

Quick Hits Effective July 10, 2026, a new USCIS interim final rule gives adjudicators explicit regulatory authority to deny—rather than merely reject—immigration benefit requests with invalid signatures. Unlike a rejection, a denial means USCIS retains the filing fee, and the petitioner must file an entirely new petition to try again. Employers, HR professionals, and immigration practitioners may want to review signature workflows now, as USCIS will not permit petitioners to…

Quick Hits The California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, affirmed the holding that an employer could not enforce an arbitration agreement since it was neither a signatory to the contract nor an “affiliate” of the staffing agency. The court further held that even if the employer was a third-party beneficiary of the arbitration agreement, the agreement did not cover claims arising after the employment with the staffing agency ended.…

Quick Hits On April 23, 2026, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill (SB 1134) that prohibits counties and municipalities from funding or promoting DEI-related programs, training, and offices. The law requires recipients of county and municipal contracts and grants to confirm they do not promote DEI. The law will take effect on January 1, 2027. The new law defines DEI as any effort to: “[m]anipulate or otherwise influence the…

Quick Hits The ADA’s broad definition of “disability” expressly encompasses mental health conditions, which may include major depressive disorder, panic disorder, anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), attention deficit disorder, and autism spectrum disorder, among others. Employers have an obligation to provide reasonable accommodation(s) that enable employees with mental health disabilities to perform their essential job functions or enjoy the equal privileges and benefits of employment. Employees are not entitled…

Quick Hits Germany’s Federal Labor Court held that an employer’s failure to attempt contact with a vacationing employee for the purpose of a required hearing before issuing an extraordinary termination on suspicion rendered the termination invalid for exceeding the two-week notice period. An employer must make a reasonable attempt to reach an employee on vacation within one week of learning the relevant facts, and only such an attempt will suspend…

Quick Hits OSHA is making mental wellness a significant part of its modern safety framework. Employers may want to ensure that their safety and health management systems include worker input to ensure psychologically safe environments. Psychological risk prevention may include employee assistance programs, leaves of absence accommodations, and other accommodations to prevent and mitigate risk exposure. Psychological safety refers to the mental and emotional well-being of workers in the workplace,…

Quick Hits Maine Governor Janet Mills recently signed a bill that updates the state’s existing substance use testing law to prohibit arbitrary drug testing in the workplace. The new provisions permit drug testing based on reasonable suspicion of impairment, criteria-based testing, and random testing based on neutral selection methods. The law will take effect on July 29, 2026. The legislation updates Maine’s existing substance use testing law as follows: Employers…