Alaska Employment Law

The California Supreme Court has identified factors that would invalidate provisions in arbitration agreements that purport to waive class claims for unpaid overtime.  Gentry v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, S141502, ___ P.3d ___ (Cal. Aug. 30, 2007).  The Court (4-3) held that various practical difficulties facing individual OT claimants may void any agreement to waive class action […]

In Alaska, the rules for breaks differ for adults and for minors.
Rules for Minors
An Alaskan employer must provide a break of at least 30 minutes for any minor (defined as someone less than 18 years of age)  who
a) is scheduled to work at least six hours; or
b) actually works five hours.
The break must occur after the […]

In Nigg v. USPS, 2007 WL 2410165 (9th Cir. Aug. 27, 2007), the 9th Circuit held that a 1996 Postal Service statute allowing for relaxed OT eligibility did not directly conflict with the FLSA or implicitly repeal the FLSA as it applies to Postal Inspectors.  The Court refused to give Chevron deference to the Service’s interpretation (because “administration […]

The pilots of Hageland Aviation Services, Inc. sued both Hageland Aviation and (later) three officer/shareholders for unpaid overtime compensation under the Alaska Wage and Hour Act.  Judge Peter Michalski certified a class, and entered summary judgment against defendants on their principal defenses - (1) preemption under the federal Airline Deregulation Act; and (2) exemption under AS 23.10.060(d)(19)(re “flight […]

In May-June of 2006, the Matanuska-Susitna School District laid off 82 of its non-teaching, permanent annual employees,relying on budgetary grounds.  Arbitrator Robert Landau upheld the union’s grievance, holding that the layoff was not numerically limited, not keyed to budget cuts, contrary to past practice, etc.
Vince Speranza of Uniserv represented the union; Theresa Henneman of Holmes […]

The current Executive Committee of the Employment Law Section (with expiration dates) is:
Tom Daniel (2007)
Kathleen Frederick  (2007)
Theresa Hillhouse (2007)
Barbara Jones (2007)
Peter Partnow (2007)
Stephen Sorenson (2007)
Will Schendel (2008)
Robert Schmidt (2008)
At the September 5th ELS meeting, the Section will take nominations for the six vacancies.  Several incumbents have expressed interest in re-election, and several other members have expresssed interest in […]

The feds prosecuted Patricia Paul for stealing funds that she claimed were due her for unpaid overtime compensation.  She asserted that she was improperly classified as exempt.  When she called an expert on the exemption issue, the trial judge excluded the evidence.  The 9th Circuit, in an unpublished opinon, held:
The district court did not abuse its discretion […]

The inaptly named Jon Katz is an overweight, disheveled middle-aged man who has a gimpy leg, and (eventually) owns a place called Bedlam Farm in upstate New York. Mr. Katz loves dogs and loves to write about them. A Good Dog is about his relationship to a border collie named Orson, a dog so crazed […]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued a new 29 CFR 1625.4 to emphasize that the ADEA permits employers to use age to favor employees or applicants 40 years or older, even if the younger individual is at least 40 years old.  The new regulation expressly notes that state or local laws may, however, prohibit discrimination […]

AG Tallis Colberg has recently issued opinions on the following issues:
Grounds for recall of school board members: A recall petition against members of the Chatham regional School Board adequately relied upon the following grounds: failure to require school administrators to have Type B teacher certificates; failure to implement system to evaluate teachers and administrators; violation of the Open […]

Attorney General Tallis Colberg has opined that AGIA (the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act), including its Alaska hire provisions, is constitutional.  As to the labor provisions, the AG’s June 5th opinion emphasizes flexibility inserted into the final version (”to the maximum extent permitted by law”) and, as to the training program, advises the state to be careful […]

Last Wednesday the Alaska Supreme Court affirmed Judge Patricia Collins’ summary judgment against a Juneau citizen who claimed that a Juneau Police officer had tortiously harassed him.  In its unpublished opinion, the court adopted Judge Collins’ “thorough discussion of the IIED issue.”  Olivit v. Comolli, No. 1284 (Alaska Aug. 15, 2007).
Collins held that plaintiff Olivit […]

The Seattle office of the EEOC sued Zales, alleging that it had denied Christina Kantarzis a promotion at the Sears Mall branch in Anchorage because of her pregnancy.   EEOC v. Zale Corporation, 3:07-cv-00033-JWS (D.Alaska).   Before any motion practice, the parties settled the matter.  Judge Sedwick approved the Consent Decree and Notice to Employees on July 9, 2007. The Consent Decree […]

Sitting in the Eastern District of California, Judge Ralph Beistline approved settlement of state-law claims of defects in Volvo’s electronic throttle, introduced in 1999.  Trew v. Volvo Cars of No. Amer., LLC, S-05-1379 RRB (E.D.Cal. July 31, 2007)(Document 104). 
Beistline certified a nationwide settlement class, and, overruling objections from class members, held:  1) the settlement provides significant relief not […]

The Second Circuit has now unambiguously held that 
mandatory arbitration clauses in collective bargaining agreements are unenforceable to the extent they waive the rights of covered workers to a judicial forum for federal statutory causes of action.
Pyett v. Pennsylvania Building Company, ___ F.3d ___, 2007 WL 2189126 (2nd Cir. Aug. 1, 2007).  The Court emphasized that Wright v. […]

Introduction
In an amended opinion issued July 20, 2007, Poland v. Chertoff, ___ F.3d ___, 2007 WL 2069651 (9th Cir. 2007), the Ninth Circuit held that a subordinate’s animus could be imputed to an employer if the plaintiff could show that the subordinate “influenced or was involved in the decision or decisionmaking process.” In reaching this […]

The Faragher/Ellerth affirmative defense is applicable only if the plaintiff seeks to hold the defendant liable for harassment on a vicarious liability theory and the plaintiff did not suffer a tangible employment action. If you have proof that the employer knew or should have known about the harasser’s conduct before this particular plaintiff was harassed, […]

Most management-side lawyers are wary of initiating a conversation about waiving future employment as part of a settlement agreement, for fear of triggering a retaliation charge. 
Federal OSHA has now issued a policy letter that sets out criteria for agency review of such waivers.  OSHA will look at, e.g., the breadth of the employment restriction, the compensation paid for […]

The rank of Alaska lawyer bloggers (”blawgers”) is small.
Stevens Wells, who publishes under the name Alaskablawg, seems to have been the first Alaskan lawyer blogger.   He started blogging in October of 2004.  Wells has been a PD in Dillingham and an OPA attorney.   He’s now in private practice in Anchorage.   He blogs about “Law and Life […]

The Alaska franchisee of Avis sued its parent (Cendant), after the parent bought the Budget chain and, through Budget, competed with Alaska Avis (Rent-a-Car).  U. S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess has now resolved most claims in favor of Cendant, via summary judgment.  In the process, Burgess addressed a variety of legal issues that sometimes arise […]

U. S. District Court Judge John Sedwick has rejected former Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch’s request to transfer the trial location from Anchorage to Juneau,  He held that Anchorage is the superior location, at least for this matter, for a number of reasons, including
* better technical support for the Digital Electronic Presentation System;
* better air travel connections […]

The current volume of the BNA publication Labor Arbitration has published four awards in Alaska arbitration matters, three of them by Robert Landau.  They are:
 Anch. Mun. Light & Power & IBEW Local 1547 (04/16/07), 123 LA 1134 (Landau, R., Arb.): Holding: Employer did not violate CBA re shift change.  Also: Discussion of elements of past […]

 The Alaska Wage and Hour Act requires employers to retain, for a period of three years,
(1) A record of the name, address, and occupation of each employee;
(2) A record of the rate of pay and the amount paid each pay period to each employee;
(3) A record of the hours worked each day and each workweek by […]

A private agreement to compromise a claim for unpaid overtime compensation under the AWHA is valid as to the unpaid OT, but invalid as to liquidated damages, unless the agreement is approved by either the Alaska Department of Labor or a court.   AS 23.10.110(j).  The Department or the court must review the agreement to determine if ”the […]

The Emperor of Ocean Park
Reviewed by Will Schendel
The title character of Stephen Carter’s first novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park, Oliver Garland, is a black conservative on the D. C. Court of Appeals.  Nominated to the Supreme Court, his confirmation hearings have all of the controversy but none of the eventual success of Clarence Thomas’.  […]