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Quick Hits New York State lawmakers have passed a bill that would ban the enforcement of class action waivers in some circumstances and other waivers of workers’ rights under the Human Rights Law. The bill includes exceptions for bona fide settlements, post-employment agreements, and collective bargaining agreements, while also considering federal preemption under the Federal Arbitration Act. The bill has not yet been signed by the governor. On May 13,…

Quick Hits In EEOC v. SkyWest Airlines, Inc., the Fifth Circuit upheld a lower court’s ruling that Title VII plaintiffs do not need to take steps to reduce their damages for emotional distress. A Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport parts clerk sued SkyWest Airlines for sexual harassment and retaliation, and a Dallas jury awarded her $2 million in punitive damages and $170,000 for emotional harm, an award later reduced to statutory…

Quick Hits Employers with employees in Minnesota must designate and communicate their chosen accrual year for ESST or it defaults to the calendar year. Eligibility is based on a “good faith” determination that an employee will work at least eighty hours per year in Minnesota. Employees—not employers—control whether ESST is used. ESST used for a nonqualifying purpose is not protected and may be subject to discipline in accordance with the…

Quick Hits The Seventh Circuit held that the BIPA clarifying amendments, which limit plaintiffs to “at most, one recovery” per person per method of collection, apply retroactively to pending cases. The court found “the Illinois law of retroactivity is well established, allowing us to predict how the Supreme Court of Illinois would rule with a high degree of confidence.” Because the amendment addresses only the statutory damages available to plaintiffs—not…

Quick Hits Colorado’s law governing automatic renewal clauses in contracts now applies to businesses and individuals, rather than just individuals. Online automatic renewal contracts must have an online method of cancellation that does not obstruct a business’s or individual’s ability to terminate automatic renewal or continuous service, immediately. Businesses may still display retention offers or discounted pricing during the cancellation process, but the business must simultaneously and prominently display a…

Quick Hits Cal/OSHA is considering modifications to its proposed workplace inspection regulation after receiving oral and written comments following an April 1, 2026, public hearing. The proposed rule would define the roles of employer representatives and employee-authorized representatives during workplace inspections. Under the proposed rule, an “employee-authorized representative” may be a fellow employee, a third party, or a collective bargaining representative. The proposed rule would not alter the basic consent-and-warrant…

Quick Hits Oklahoma has amended its occupational safety and health citation rule to allow the ODOL to issue citations against public employers more than six months after an alleged violation when that violation arises from a fatality investigation or when third-party conduct caused the delay. The amendment takes effect July 11, 2026, and applies to state and local government employers covered by Oklahoma’s public employee occupational safety and health program.…

Quick Hits When reviewing a mass layoff notice, the focus must generally be on the purpose of the notification procedure. Stating a number of employees to be laid off that is slightly too high in the mass layoff notice does not automatically render the notice invalid. The Case The employee worked as a machine setup technician and operator for a key manufacturer and machine builder. The employer became insolvent in…