Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that the Federal Arbitration Act’s exemption for transportation workers is not exclusive to workers in the transportation industry. Writing for the Court, Chief Justice Roberts explained instead that the exemption turns on whether a worker is a transportation worker, regardless of the company’s industry. Federal Arbitration Act Dating back to 1925, the FAA generally requires arbitration agreements to be enforced according to their terms. Nevertheless, it explicitly exempts employment contracts “of seaman, railroad employees ..read more

This afternoon, the Federal Trade Commission approved by a 3-2 vote a final rule to ban noncompetes between employers and their workers. If the rule remains in effect, it will have a significant impact on employers in Georgia and elsewhere. Although the approved rule is not yet available, here are some initial highlights from the FTC’s meeting : All existing noncompetes with employees are invalid, except for those with senior executives (which was not defined in the FTC presentation today, but is presumably defined within the final rule). The final rule bans noncompete agreements with all emp ..read more

Today, the U.S. Department of Labor released its final rule raising the overtime exemption salary threshold for white-collar exemptions and the highly compensated employee exemption threshold. Does the DOL’s overtime wage thresholds affect you or your business? The White Collar Exemption Threshold The final rule, Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employee, raises the white-collar exemption threshold under the Fair Labor Standards Act to the equivalent of $43,888 annual salary on July 1, 2024. The exemption threshold ..read more

The United States Supreme Court has issued a ruling that makes it easier for employees to raise discrimination claims related to job transfers.  As explained below, employers should take note of this decision because it is likely to result in an increase of discrimination claims stemming from job transfers – even when no significant financial impact exists. The Court’s Ruling On April 17, 2024, the Supreme Court held in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri, that an employee bringing a claim for discrimination under Title VII related to a job transfer need only show some employment disad ..read more

Today, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan announced that a special Open Commission Meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at 2pm ET. At the meeting, the Commission will vote on whether to issue a proposed final rule that would prevent most employers from enforcing noncompetes against workers.   At the start of the meeting, the Commission will vote on whether to authorize public disclosure of the proposed final rule that is under consideration. Then, Chair Khan will offer brief remarks. Next, if the Commission votes to authorize public disclosure of the fi ..read more

In Baldwin v. Express Oil Change, LLC, 87 F.4th 1292 (2023), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals addressed some key issues under the Georgia Restrictive Covenants Act. The case involved a former executive of Express Oil Change who had received nearly $2 million from a sale of the company. Time Limit The executive argued the 2-year presumption of reasonableness as to the time limitation for a restrictive covenant applicable to employees applied to him. The district court agreed, but the Eleventh Circuit reversed finding the executive was a “seller” under O.C.G.A. §13-8-57(d). Under the statut ..read more

Author’s Note: This article was inspired, in part, by the golf tournament being played in Augusta, GA this week.   Introduction Many commentators have offered thoughts on a recent tax trial – the first of its kind in the syndicated conservation easement transaction (SCET) context – where the IRS and DOJ-Tax proceeded with criminal prosecution ahead of civil audit remedies.  The prosecution alleged a scheme to defraud the government through inflated appraisals. In the criminal prosecution, the government did not present an expert opinion of value.  Instead, the government attacke ..read more

In the spirit of the college basketball championship, you can test your knowledge of the EEOC charge filing statistics by completing the bracket and selecting the most filed charge of workplace discrimination. How to Find Results The comprehensive enforcement and litigation statistics for FY 2022, which ended Sept. 30, 2021, are posted on the agency’s website, which can be found here.  This is the most recent EEOC statistical report that breaks down the data by the nature of the Charge. FY 2023 EEOC Annual Performance Report On March 11, 2024, the EEOC released its report on the agency’s ..read more

Our blog regularly monitors how noncompetes are under attack by federal regulatory bodies and state legislatures. Georgia’s legislature has largely stayed out of the fray.  However, last week, Representative Newton of Augusta introduced legislation that would curtail the use of noncompetes for physicians. Physician noncompetes under attack in Georgia? House Bill 1490 provides that any partnership or employment agreement with a physician licensed to practice medicine that restricts the right of the physician to practice medicine in Georgia is void and unenforceable with respect to said res ..read more

Shareholders in a Georgia corporation generally have a statutory right to inspect certain corporate records to monitor their investment. If the company fails to provide the required records, Georgia law enables the requesting shareholder to file a lawsuit to secure prompt access to those records. In the recent decision of Cardea Corporate Holdings, Inc. v. LaRocco, the Georgia Court of Appeals further clarifies a shareholder’s right to inspect the company’s books and records and the corporation’s right to fight such a request. As explained in a prior post, the primary issue posed in LaRocco re ..read more