Laura Franks

Laura Franks is a law clerk in the Labor & Employment Law Department.

Prior to joining Proskauer, Laura graduated from University of Virginia Law School where she was the Executive Editor of the University of Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Journal. Laura was also a member of the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia School of Law clinic and was President of the Virginia Sports Law Society. While in law school, Laura interned with the National Hockey League and the University of Virginia Office of the General Counsel.

Firm/Organization: Proskauer Rose LLP

Blogs: Labor Relations Update, Law and the Workplace, New England IP Blog

Latest Articles

Labor Relations Update

NLRB Proposes Rule to Settle Once and For All: Student Teaching and Research Assistants Are Not “Employees”

By Paul Salvatore, Steven Porzio & Laura Franks

September 20, 2019

As anticipated, today the National Labor Relations Board published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) proposing a regulation which would establish that students at private colleges and universities who perform any services related to their studies for compensation, including teaching and research, are not “employees” within the meaning of Section 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act. The proposed rule would bring certainty to the student employee-status issue, which the Board oscillated on three times…

Labor Relations Update

NLRB Tips Scales in Favor of Employers When Drawing Distinctions Between Claims of “Inability to Pay” Versus “Competitive Disadvantage,” and “Surface” Versus “Hard” Bargaining

By Steven Porzio & Laura Franks

September 18, 2019

In recent weeks, the National Labor Relations Board has issued several employer-friendly decisions, and its September 13 decision in Arlington Metals Corp., 368 NLRB No. 74 (2019) was no exception. In Arlington Metals, the Board considered: (1) whether an employer’s statements during bargaining in response to a union’s economic proposals amounted to an asserted “inability to pay,” which would trigger an obligation to provide the union with access to the company’s financial information; (2) whether…

Labor Relations Update

NLRB Puts a Finer Point on Its Community of Interest Test with a New Three-Step Analysis

By Michael Lebowich & Laura Franks

September 12, 2019

Still hard at work as we head into mid-September, the National Labor Relations Board, in a 3-1 decision (Chairman Ring and Members Kaplan and Emanuel in the majority, Member McFerran dissenting) announced a three-step test which clarifies how petitioned-for partial workforce units are analyzed under the traditional community of interest factors. In 2017, the Board in PCC Structurals, Inc., 365 NLRB No. 160 (2017) rejected the Obama-era Board’s “micro-unit” concept (overruling Specialty Healthcare, 357 NLRB…

Labor Relations Update

NLRB Issues “Epic” Decision Concerning the Intersection of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements and NLRA Section 7 Rights

By Mark Theodore, Michael Lebowich, Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox & Laura Franks

August 16, 2019

On August 14, 2019, the NLRB issued its first decision addressing employer conduct related to mandatory arbitration agreements and Section 7 activity since the Supreme Court decided Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis, 584 U.S. __, 138 S.Ct. 1612 (2018). In Epic Systems (discussed more fully here), the Supreme Court held that agreements between employers and employees which include mandatory arbitration clauses and waivers of class and collective action rights do not violate the NLRA,…

Labor Relations Update

NLRB Finds Employer Lawfully Terminated “Known” Union Supporter Despite Finding Its Justification Was Pretextual

By Steven Porzio & Laura Franks

August 10, 2019

In a 2-1 decision issued on August 2, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) in Electrolux Home Products, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 34 (2019) reversed an Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) decision, and held that Electrolux’s discharge of a “known” union supporter employee did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “Act”), notwithstanding the Board finding that Electrolux’s stated justification for the discharge was pretextual. Background The discharged employee at issue in…

Labor Relations Update

D.C. Circuit Weighs In On NLRB Test For Adjunct Faculty Unionization

By Paul Salvatore, Steven Porzio, David Bayer & Laura Franks

March 21, 2019

Colleges and universities should take note of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s recent decision in University of Southern California v. National Labor Relations Board, Case No. 17-1149 (D.C. Cir. Mar. 12, 2019) addressing whether non-tenure track faculty at universities are “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), giving them the right to form a union, or whether they are “managers” and thus exempt from coverage under the NLRA. In its decision,…

New England IP Blog

Massachusetts Passes Non-Compete Reform Law

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen Manelin & Laura Franks

August 14, 2018

On August 10, 2018, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law a bill making significant reforms to Massachusetts’ law regarding non-compete agreements, as well as adopting the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”) (joining 48 other states as well as DC in adopting the UTSA at least in part, and leaving New York as the lone state to not have adopted any version of the UTSA). The reform comes at the tail end of the 2018…

Law and the Workplace

Massachusetts Passes Non-Compete Reform Law

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen Manelin & Laura Franks

August 13, 2018

Law and the Workplace

Massachusetts Governor Signs Minimum Wage, Family and Medical Leave Bill

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen Manelin & Laura Franks

July 2, 2018

On June 28, 2018, Governor Charlie Baker signed “An Act Relative to Minimum Wage, Paid Family Medical Leave, and the Sales Tax Holiday” (HB 4640) into law. Last week, we covered three major changes the Act makes to Massachusetts law that employers should be aware of (available here). In short, the Act incrementally increases minimum wage for regular and tipped employees, gradually eliminates premium Sunday and holiday pay for retail workers, and institutes a…

Law and the Workplace

Massachusetts Legislature Passes Compromise Bill Increasing Minimum Wage, Establishing Paid Family and Medical Leave

By Mark W. Batten, Samantha Regenbogen Manelin & Laura Franks

June 27, 2018

On June 20, 2018, the Massachusetts legislature passed House Bill 4640, “An Act Relative to Minimum Wage, Paid Family Medical Leave, and the Sales Tax Holiday.” The bill increases minimum wage, eliminates premium Sunday pay for retail workers, and establishes a state paid family and medical leave insurance program. The bill also creates an annual state tax holiday on a designated weekend in August. Under pressure from Governor Charlie Baker to reach a compromise…

Laura Franks

NLRB Proposes Rule to Settle Once and For All: Student Teaching and Research Assistants Are Not “Employees”

NLRB Tips Scales in Favor of Employers When Drawing Distinctions Between Claims of “Inability to Pay” Versus “Competitive Disadvantage,” and “Surface” Versus “Hard” Bargaining

NLRB Puts a Finer Point on Its Community of Interest Test with a New Three-Step Analysis

NLRB Issues “Epic” Decision Concerning the Intersection of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements and NLRA Section 7 Rights

NLRB Finds Employer Lawfully Terminated “Known” Union Supporter Despite Finding Its Justification Was Pretextual

D.C. Circuit Weighs In On NLRB Test For Adjunct Faculty Unionization

Massachusetts Passes Non-Compete Reform Law

Massachusetts Passes Non-Compete Reform Law

Massachusetts Governor Signs Minimum Wage, Family and Medical Leave Bill

Massachusetts Legislature Passes Compromise Bill Increasing Minimum Wage, Establishing Paid Family and Medical Leave

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