Welcome to Labor of Law—I'm Mike Scarcella in Washington, and joining me this week is Cheryl Miller in Sacramento. You can reach us at [email protected] and [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter @MikeScarcella and @CapitalAccounts. Thanks for reading!

 

California's AB5—the 'Dynamex' Bill—Advances

It's increasingly looking like Gov. Gavin Newsom will have the final say on whether certain California companies will be required to classify their workers as employees and not independent contractors.

State legislation codifying the worker-friendly classification standard established by the California Supreme Court in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court sailed out of a Senate policy committee Wednesday. The bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee where it's all but certain to pass later this summer.

“When you hear about folks talking about the new economy, the gig economy, the innovation economy, it's [expletive] feudalism all over again,” state Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, told a revved-up crowd of labor supporters on the Capitol steps after Wednesday's committee vote. Rendon assured the rally-goers that “we're going to pass AB 5 and we're going to make sure the governor signs it.”

Newsom hasn't offered his views on the bill publicly. During his State of the State address in February, the governor said his focus was on “California's changing workforce,” an issue he called “much bigger than Dynamex.”

The bill's author, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, said she's still negotiating with leaders of industries that want exemptions from anti-independent contractor provisions. But she said she “can't imagine” supporting a compromise sought by tech companies, particularly those in the ride-hailing industry, that would allow them to continue classifying workers as contractors and not employees.

“I have never been so excited by a court decision,” Gonzalez said at the post-vote rally. “Being an advocate for workers I feel like I wake up every day fighting and scrapping to get what we can. But we were handed something. We were handed a decision that was righteous.” —Cheryl Miller, reporting from Sacramento

>> More reading here at the Los Angeles Times: “Uber and Lyft drivers swarm Sacramento as lawmakers advance gig workers' rights bill.” And if you missed it, former Obama-era DOL lawyer David Weil has this op-ed up: “Call Uber and Lyft drivers what they are: employees.”

 

Seyfarth Shaw Opens Charlotte Outpost

Seyfarth Shaw has opened an office in Charlotte, its first in a region that the firm said “has grown into an increasingly important hub” for clients. The firm said the office will be led by partners Frederick T. “Fritz” Smith and Eric Sidman, both of whom live in Charlotte. Smith is a former chair of the firm's employment litigation practice, and Sidman has a commercial real estate practice.

“We were drawn to Charlotte by our clients, who we have served in this market for many years as they encouraged us to join them,” Pete Miller, Seyfarth's chair and managing partner, said in a statement. “We are excited to expand on these efforts today with a strong local presence on the ground in Charlotte that complements our growing platform.”

The Chicago-based firm said the Charlotte office will initially be made up of eight to 10 lawyers from Seyfarth's labor and employment and real estate departments. The firm said it aims to grow the outpost into a full-service office, my colleague Meredith Hobbs reports at Law.com.

Seyfarth has more than 25 clients in the Charlotte market, including Compass Group, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and Wells Fargo. The Charlotte office is Seyfarth's 16th office and its second in the Southeast, where it has an Atlanta office with almost 100 lawyers.

Around the Water Cooler

>> Acosta Defends His Role in Brokering Jeffrey Epstein Plea Deal. “Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta (above) on Wednesday publicly defended his role in overseeing the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein on sex crimes charges in Florida over a decade ago, bucking a growing chorus of Democratic calls for his resignation.” [NYT] More at The Washington Post: Epstein Indictment Renews Questions About Earlier Case Handled by Trump Cabinet Official. And here at Reuters: Labor Secretary Defends Epstein Plea Deal. And this report over at Law.com: Kirkland Lawyers in Spotlight Amid New Epstein Criminal Case

>> Employee Activism Is Alive in Tech. It Stops Short of Organizing Unions. “Tech workers at Silicon Valley's largest companies have engaged in an unusual degree of activism over the past few years—and it has gotten results.” [NYT]

>> 5th Circuit Reverses Texas Judge Who Held Plaintiffs Firms in Contempt. A federal appeals panel on Tuesday voided a Texas trial judge's order that said three plaintiffs firms were in contempt for allegedly violating the nationwide injunction blocking enforcement of an Obama-era U.S. Labor Department rule. The ruling overturns a contempt order issued against the firms Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, Outten & Golden, and New Jersey's Green Savits. [Law.com]

>> Lawyer Awarded $229K in Pregnancy Bias Suit After Judge Slams Defendant Law Firm for Slow Discovery. “A Chicago immigration lawyer has been awarded $229,498 in her suit claiming that she was fired from her job at a law firm after disclosing her pregnancy. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer awarded the money to Jessica Hernandez last week after entering a default judgment against the Katz Law Office for discovery foot-dragging.” [ABA Journal]

>> NLRB's Emanuel Should Sit Out McDonald's Case, Leaked Records Say. “Federal labor board officials concluded last year that member William Emanuel should sit out a major, ongoing case against McDonald's that has sparked conflict-of-interest concerns, according to an internal agency document obtained by Bloomberg Law.” [Bloomberg Law]

>> Trump, Blocked by Court on Executive Orders, Ramps Up Agency Moves Against Unions. “It's been almost 26 months since a federal judge stymied President Trump's effort to undermine the power of federal unions through three executive orders. But that hasn't stopped relentless attempts to reach the same goal through a different route. What Trump hasn't been able to do through sweeping edicts, his administration has been steadily seeking agency by agency.” [The Washington Post]

Notable Moves & Announcements

• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison has hired Jean McLoughlin as partner in the firm's executive compensation and employee benefits practice after 25 years at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp called McLoughlin one of the nation's leading executive compensation attorneys. McLoughlin advises corporate, financial and individual clients and compensation committees on the negotiation of employment and compensation arrangements, my colleague Dan Packel reports.

• Troutman Sanders LLP said three employee benefits-focused partners—Jim Earle, Lynne Wakefield, and Emily Zimmer—have joined the firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. The group previously practiced at K&L Gates.

• Keith Sonderling, a former Gunster shareholder in Florida, has been picked for a seat on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Sonderling is currently serving as deputy administrator of the Labor Department's wage and hour division. Bloomberg Law has more here.

• Goodwin Procter hired Andy Barton as a partner in the firm's ERISA and executive compensation practice in New York. Barton had been a partner at Kirkland & Ellis. “We have seen a steady rise in demand for ERISA and executive compensation advisory as our Private Equity, Technology and Life Sciences practices have grown, and as the regulatory environment has become even more complex,” Scott Webster, chair of Goodwin's ERISA and Executive Compensation practice, said in a statement.

• National Labor Relations Board lawyer Richard A. Bockhas been appointed associate general counsel for the Division of Advice. Bock succeeds Jayme L. Sophir, who is retiring at the end of July. “Richard brings a wealth of experience to this position, given his prior positions in headquarters and in the field,” NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb (at left) said in a statement. Bock joined the NLRB in 1996 as a field attorney and subsequently served in various supervisory roles, including assistant general counsel in operations-management and deputy associate general counsel in the division of legal counsel. Sophir had worked for more than 30 years at the agency.

• Littler Mendelson has added Rebecca Loeffler as of counsel in the firm's Indianapolis office. Loeffler formerly served as the government litigation section chief in the Office of the Indiana Attorney General.

• Jackson Lewis has hired Adam Cantor as principal in the firm's employee benefits practice. Cantor, who joined from Brown Rudnick, will work in the firm's White Plains, New York, office.

• Greenberg Traurig, growing its global labor and employment team, snagged Thomas Timmermans as a shareholder in Amsterdam from Norton Rose Fulbright. Timmermans starts on Aug. 1.

• Carlton Fields said Micah Vitale has joined the firm's Hartford office as an associate in the labor and employment practice. Vitale joins from Boyle Shaughnessy Law, where she had been an associate.

• Snell & Wilmer said Elizabeth Wylie has joined the Denver office as a partner in the labor and employment and commercial litigation groups. Wylie arrives from Messner Reeves.