Historic Pittsburgh Post-Gazette closure highlights labor law stakes for employers
1/9/26
By: Sunshine Fellows
In a development that has reverberated across the Pittsburgh region and beyond, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of America’s oldest continuously published newspapers, has announced it will cease publication on May 3, 2026, after nearly 240 years in …
NLRB quorum restored: What employers need to know
1/9/26
By: Sunshine Fellows
After nearly a year of operational uncertainty, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is once again fully empowered to act. On December 18, 2025, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Scott Mayer and James Murphy to the …
A measured shift in Title VI enforcement: what employers and HR leaders should know
12/15/25
By: Sunshine Fellows
On December 9, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice finalized revisions to its Title VI regulations under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The updated rule narrows DOJ enforcement exclusively to cases involving intentional discrimination, eliminating regulatory …
Anti-American bias in the spotlight: EEOC targets immigration related employment practices
12/1/25
By: Sunshine Fellows
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued new materials highlighting unlawful anti-American bias under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While national origin discrimination has long been prohibited, the EEOC’s refreshed technical assistance and …
What employers should expect when the government reopens: Key considerations for the days ahead
11/14/25
By: Sunshine Fellows
After more than 40 days of disruption, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history is nearing its end. Triggered by a lapse in appropriations on October 1, 2025, the shutdown has deeply impacted federal agencies, contractors and …
11/11/25
By: Sunshine Fellows
Imagine hiring a new manager who never sleeps, never takes a vacation and never complains. Sounds perfect, right? But what if that manager is an algorithm? In today’s workplace, that’s not science fiction. It’s reality. AI systems …
11/11/25
In late September of 2025, the Trump administration issued the “Presidential Proclamation on Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” (hereinafter the “Proclamation”). Pursuant to the Proclamation, “the entry into the United States of aliens as …
Third Circuit rules that an employer’s passwords are not “trade secrets”
11/10/25
By: Shane Miller
Key takeaway
An employer’s passwords may protect valuable information, but the passwords themselves lack independent economic value and thus fail to qualify as “trade secrets” under the Defend Trade Secrets Act.
Understanding trade secrets
Trade secret misappropriation …
11/7/25
On October 31, 2025, Judge Edith Jones wrote for the Fifth Circuit in Hiran Management, Inc. v. NLRB: “Ninety years after Congress created the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) the NLRB claimed for the …
11/5/25
In King v. UPS, decided on September 25, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a plaintiff’s race and age discrimination claims, as well as …
Ninth Circuit defines the “costs” associated with offers of judgment or settlement
11/5/25
In Alvarado v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc., issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on September 30, 2025, the court clarified the scope of awards under California Code of Civil Procedure Section …
Retention bonus does not constitute wages under the Massachusetts Wage Act
10/28/25
By: Jennifer L. Markowski and Emily Mayfield
On October 22, 2025, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (“SJC”) ruled that an employee’s agreed-to retention bonus did not constitute “wages” under the Wage Act, M.G.L. ch. 149, § 148. The Wage Act imposes …