In today’s news and commentary, the DC Circuit is poised to rule on the deference it owes to the NLRB, more cases on religious vaccine exemptions, and the Senate considers a ban on forced arbitration in age discrimination claims.
The DC Circuit is poised to issue its first opinion on what deference is owed to NLRB interpretations of the NLRA since Loper-Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo was decided. A DC Circuit panel heard oral arguments last week in Hospital Menonita de Guayama v. NLRB, which turns on the NLRB’s power to interpret the NLRA as authorizing a “successor bar” (i.e., a requirement that the new owners of a company recognize a pre-existing union). In theory, the court could still defer to the agency, since deference to the NLRB precedes the Chevron doctrine and rests on different bases. In any case, the panel’s eventual decision will likely be significant to the extent that it would set circuit precedent in the NLRB’s most frequent venue.
Last week, Henry reported on the Ninth Circuit’s ruling against a group of firefighters claiming a religious exemption to a COVID-19 vaccination mandate. This ruling adds to a flurry of activity around similar cases. Recently, an Illinois jury found for a Chicago Transit Authority employee in essentially the same position, awarding him $450,000 in damages. On the other hand, a Pennsylvania federal district court dismissed a similar claim by an employee terminated by 3M for refusing the vaccine. There, the court was skeptical of...
Claims that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman first emerged online in 2021 and have since gone viral. “Two billion people have been exposed to this story in French and 2.5 billion in English,...