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Takeaways

  • A federal court ruled that Oregon’s labor peace agreement requirement for cannabis businesses is preempted by the NLRA.
  • This decision could prompt legal challenges to similar laws in other states.

In an ironic turn of events this week, the application of federal law benefited state-licensed cannabis businesses in Oregon—and potentially nationwide. Those involved with the cannabis industry often view federal law as an impediment to cannabis businesses, given the ongoing federal illegality of cannabis and the extremely burdensome federal tax obligations created by Section 280E of the tax code. However, the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) and the body of federal case law that has sprung up around it worked to nullify an Oregon ballot initiative that would have improperly restricted licensed cannabis operators from discussing the pros and cons of unionization with their workforces.Continue Reading Federal Labor Law Preempts State’s Attempt to Regulate Union Activity in Cannabis Industry

Institutions of Higher Education Can No Longer Establish or Maintain DEI Offices

Texas is one of several states that have implemented laws aimed at eliminating DEI offices and initiatives for publicly funded institutions.

Effective January 1, 2024, Texan institutions of higher education (e.g., the University of Texas) are no longer permitted to establish or maintain diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) offices or hire/assign employees (or officers or contractors) to perform any DEI-like job duties. Further, Texas institutions may not require applicants or employees to provide DEI statements or give preference to any applicants or employees on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. And finally, the law requires these institutions to “adopt policies and procedures for appropriately disciplining, including by termination, an employee or contractor” who violates the law.Continue Reading 2025 Texas Labor and Employment Legal Updates

Over the past decade or so, there’s been much effort by the government to expand the scope of who may be deemed a joint employer. Those efforts have been to make contractors and their subcontractors, franchisors and their franchisees, and staffing agencies and their clients, joint employers. If they are joint employers, then one may be liable for the employment law wrongs of the other, and one may even have to engage in collective bargaining with respect to employees on the other joint employer’s payroll. Major efforts in this regard were made during the Obama Administration, all of which were rolled back during the Trump Administration.Continue Reading The Rules on Who’s a Joint Employer Have Dramatically Changed