U.S. Department of Labor and NLRB Issue New Rules on Joint Employment

by Adam Henningsen The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced a final rule to update its regulations interpreting joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under the FLSA, an employee may have – in addition to his or her employer – one or more joint employers who are jointly and severally liable with the employer for the employee’s required minimum wage and overtime pay. In the final rule, the DOL provides a

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Tueth Keeney’s Jim Layton Urges Missouri Supreme Court to Preserve Sovereign Immunity for Political Subdivisions, Such as School Districts and Counties

Today Jim Layton of Tueth Keeney filed a brief for the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers (MoDL) as amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) in the Missouri Supreme Court in Moore v. Bi-State. The question before the Court is whether caps on damages that apply to most Missouri political subdivisions””such as school districts and counties’ apply to Bi-State, the entity that operates mass transit in the St. Louis area. Jim’s brief points out that the Missouri Supreme Court has consistently

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Change in Determining Unlawful Presence for International Students and Exchange Visitors

Update by Kristine Nazir On August 8, 2019, DHS issued a new policy that announced that foreign students would begin accumulating “unlawful presence” if any violation of status had occurred, whether known to the student or not. On May 3, 2019, in Guilford College et al. v. DHS, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina issued a nationwide preliminary injunction stopping DHS from enforcing its new policy during the pendency of the case. On February 6,

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Public Charge Requirements and Implementation

by Kristine Nazir and Melanie Keeney On January 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily set aside the preliminary injunctions that prevented DHS“™ public charge rule from taking effect nationwide. This was the last of the three district court nationwide injunctions in force, which means that the DHS rule can go into effect nationwide, except in Illinois where it is blocked by a statewide injunction. The DHS regulation redefines a “public charge” as a non-citizen who

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Tueth Keeney Adds Two New Shareholders

Tueth Keeney is proud to announce the addition of two new Shareholders, Diane Metzger and Mollie Mohan, to the firm, as of January 1, 2020. Diane Metzger is a graduate of Saint Louis University School of Law (’08) and Saint Louis University (’05).   She practices primarily in the area of employment-based immigration.   In particular, Diane provides legal advice and counsel regarding the hiring of foreign workers and compliance with the nation’s immigration laws. Mollie Mohan graduated

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U.S. Department of Education Releases New Proposed Rule Regarding Faith-Based Institutions

by Betsey Mooney and Kate Nash On Wednesday, January 16, 2020, the Department of Education published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the eligibility of faith-based institutions for departmental grants.   This proposed rule is the official document outlining the agency’s plan to revise its current regulations.   Following its publication in the Federal Register, a thirty-day period opens in which members of the public may submit comments on the proposed revisions.   The comments are made available for the

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Missouri Supreme Court Quarterly Report, January 2020″”Part 3: Time to Resolve

by Jim Layton On average, the Court handed down its opinion 146 days after oral argument, consistent with the figures for the first and third quarters. But that average was measurably affected by two cases: City of Chesterfield v. State was handed down 468 days after oral argument, and City of Aurora v/ Spectra Communications was handed down a whopping 579 days after oral argument. In each, the Court, in opinions authored by Judge Breckenridge, significantly changed the analysis to

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Missouri Supreme Court Quarterly Report, January 2020 Part 2: Authors and Dissents

by Jim Layton “Most prolific” during the fourth quarter were three judges who each wrote five opinions. Judge Fischer wrote five opinions for the majority. Judge Wilson wrote four for the majority and one dissent. And Chief Justice Draper wrote just two for the majority but three dissents. Judge Powell wrote three majority opinions. Judge Breckenridge wrote two for the majority. Judge Russell wrote one for the majority and one dissent. And Judge Stith wrote one for the majority. The

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Missouri Supreme Court Quarterly Report, January 2020 Part 1: Types, Routes, and Results

by Jim Layton The 4th quarter of 2019 saw the handing down of 19 opinions (excluding attorney discipline cases). That compares with 21 opinions in each of the 1st and 2nd quarter, and 13 in the 3rd quarter. Of the 19 opinions, just 2 were in criminal cases. Seven of the cases decided in the fourth quarter came directly to the Court on appeal. Four were in writ proceedings. This quarter, the most transfer cases came from the Southern District:

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