@LRToday Morning Round-Up: January 30, 2013
Sen. Alexander Calls on Block, Griffin to Resign: Yesterday, the National Review Online published an editorial from Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) wherein Sen. Alexander calls for National Labor Relations Board members Sharon Block and Richard Griffin to resign from their posts in the wake of last week's Noel Canning ruling.
Sen. Lamar opines that over 200 decisions in which Block and Griffin participated are, for the time being at least, invalidated. Also, any future decisions that Block and Griffin issue would also be Constitutionally unsound.
As discussed in other posts below, the Noel Canning decision is definitely not the end of the road regarding the President's recess appointments. The decision could be appealed to the full D.C. Circuit, or it could be appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
FSI Ordered to Remit Backpay to Workers by DOL: Kristina Smith of the Fremont News Messenger reports that Fultz and Sons Inc., also known as FSI Disposal, was ordered by the Department of Labor to pay over $12,000 in overtime back wages to 30 workers who were under-compensated by the company. The underpaid wages, spanning from August 2010 to July 2012, were the result of a computer issue, according to the company.
“We had a glitch in the time clock system,” said Kendra Fultz, FSI office assistant. “We ran an audit, fixed the problem and paid the employees back.”
The DOL did not issue any civil money penalties, but could do so in the future if FSI is found to be a repeat violator. This is also not the first time FSI has made the news. Recently, the company settled a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board that it had been hostile towards workers attempting to organize a union.
AFSCME Files Suit against City of Philadelphia: Dan Packel of Law360 ($$) reports that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), District 47, has filed a lawsuit against Mayor Michael Nutter and the city of Philadelphia. The complaint alleges that a new city regulation allowing the city to impose unlimited furloughs violates the Pennsylvania and U.S. Constitutions.
“In complete and unabashed derogation of AFSCME's members property rights, the defendants enacted additional provisions to Civil Service Rule 16 which, on its face, grants unfettered discretion to the city to furlough AFSCME's members, prohibits AFSCME's members from earning or receiving compensation through the furlough period, lacks any procedures or criteria to effectuate furloughs and prohibits AFSCME's members from appealing a furlough at any time and under any circumstances,” the complaint said.
A spokesman for the city said that they intended to file their response in court and would not be making any further comment on the matter.
