And may it die quickly. The U.S. Department of Labor has taken formal regulatory action to rescind the Obama Administration's "Persuader Rule." The DOL has been enjoined from enforcing the rule since November 2016, but the latest action will presumably end it for good. Let's hope. David Phippen of our Washington DC Metro Office has the details in this Client Bulletin.

Mayor de Blasio ...

You want my salary history? That's sex discrimination! Well, actually, it's a little more complicated. Kacy Coble of our Memphis Office has a great post over at FOCUS, our women's leadership blog, about the perfectly legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons why employers sometimes use salary history in setting pay -- and how alternatives may be even more unfair. As state and ...

Yesterday, the Trump Administration released its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2018, which runs from October 1, 2017, through September 30, 2018. Here are the highlights related to labor and employment law, and there are a BUNCH. The following is a compilation of a number of articles published in yesterday's edition of Bloomberg BNA's Daily Labor ...

This has been a weird year for me. (And, no, I'm not even thinking about the election!) But I have much to be thankful for, and I hope you do, too.

BREAKING THING TO BE THANKFUL FOR: Yesterday evening, the U.S. Department of Labor's new rule governing white-collar exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act was struck down by a federal judge in Texas. I'll have more on the decision ...

The U.S. Department of Labor's new Persuader Rule, which was scheduled to take effect July 1 before it was temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Lubbock, Texas, has now been permanently enjoined. That means the new Rule is dead, subject to the DOL's right to appeal the decision. And, of course, with the incoming Trump Administration, it isn't clear whether the DOL will bother with ...

Don't mess with Texas.

In Lubbock yesterday, Judge Sam R. Cummings permanently enjoined the U.S. Department of Labor's Persuader Rule, which is great news for employers. David Phippen has the full story here. The DOL can appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (it's already appealing the preliminary injunction issued in June), but with the coming change in ...

Well, maybe not light reading, but good reading about good news that you won't want to miss! Here are our bulletins and other publications from the last week, in case you missed them:

*Heather Owen is already shooting off Fourth of July fireworks at the FOCUS women's leadership blog because our firm was named this week by the National Law Journal as the fourth best law firm in the ...

U.S. District Court Judge Sam R. Cummings in Lubbock, Texas, has issued a preliminary injunction, which blocks the U.S. Department of Labor's "Persuader Rule" from going into effect on Friday. I have not had a chance to read the decision yet, but here it is. This is great news for employers. Many thanks to my law partner, Mel Haas, who had the inside scoop and shared it with the rest of us ...

I was on vacation last week, and so we have a lot of catching up to do. Here's what's been going on, from most to least recent:

*David Phippen has been keeping us up to date on the U.S. Department of Labor's Persuader Rule and what that will mean for employers. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Minnesota refused to preliminarily block enforcement of the rule. There are two other challenges ...

We now have an April Fool's Day Persuader Rule challenge (but it's real). The National Federation of Independent Business leads this group of plaintiffs, and has filed suit in federal court in Texas, which is in the Fifth Circuit. The other two lawsuits were filed in Arkansas and Minnesota, both in the Eighth Circuit.

Here's our scorecard:

PERSUADER RULE SCORECARD

March 30