Stoel Rives LLP

Stoel Rives LLP Blogs

Blog Authors

AB C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S TUV WXYZ

Latest from Stoel Rives LLP

World of Employment

NLRB Gives Employers Greater Discretion to Limit Union Activity on Their Premises

By Melissa Healy & Jim Shore on June 19, 2019

The National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) recently issued a decision in UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside that reverses longstanding Board precedent and holds that employers no longer have to allow nonemployee union representatives access to public areas of their property unless (1) the union has no other means of communicating with employees or (2) the employer discriminates against the union by allowing access to similar groups. The UPMC case arose after the employer, a hospital, ejected…

World of Employment

Oregon’s Workplace Fairness Act Means Major Changes for Oregon Employers

By Ryan Kunkel, John Dudrey & Karen O'Connor on June 18, 2019

Oregon’s Legislature just enacted the most significant legislation for Oregon employers in years. The new Workplace Fairness Act has been hailed as a #MeToo law and seems intended to curb incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace, but its reach is significantly broader than that. Key Changes and Takeaways Employers are now required to have a written anti-discrimination policy. Most employers already have one, and this was always best practice, but now it is a…

California Environmental Law

California Landlords May Need to Take Additional Steps by July 2019 to Comply with Prop 65

By Melissa A. Jones & Bao Vu on June 10, 2019

INTRODUCTION California apartment and other residential rental property landlords and their agents (e.g., property managers) with more than 10 employees need to comply with the State’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (“Prop 65”). Today, many landlords comply with Prop 65 by posting signs in building common areas that meet specific size, placement, and content requirements, warning of exposure to certain Prop 65-listed chemicals. As of July 1, 2019, however, landlords may be required…

Renewable + Law

Clear Momentum Across US Towards Expanded Renewable Energy Policy

By Riley Conlin & Sarah Johnson Phillips on June 10, 2019

renewable-energy-wind-turbines-and-modern-solar-panels-picture-id962700664

State legislatures across the country have been active this spring debating ambitious new targets and renewable energy market reforms, following the successful passage of multiple renewable energy mandates in certain states. Last year California passed SB 100, which sets the target of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045. At least other three states—Hawaii, New Mexico, and Washington—have also adopted 100% renewable energy targets and, according to Inside Climate News, several…

World of Employment

California Legislature Moves to Codify Dynamex

By Bryan Hawkins on June 6, 2019

With its decision last year in Dynamex, the California Supreme Court fundamentally changed the test for determining whether workers are properly classified as either employees or independent contractors. Specifically, and as for claims brought under the California wage orders, the Supreme Court adopted the “ABC test,” which involves an analysis of the following three factors: (1) whether the worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance…

Ahead of Schedule

Upcoming Seminar on Public Works

By Karl Oles on June 4, 2019

My partner Colm Nelson and I are on the panel of a seminar on June 5 sponsored by the Seminar Group. The program is called “Bidding Public Works & Construction Contracts.” There is still time to sign up at the Seminar Group website. Colm is talking about insurance. For my presentation, I took the opportunity to update Chapter 8 in our Stoel Rives treatise on Construction Liens in Washington. That’s the chapter about “Lien-Like…

Notice of Appeal

In Reversal, Minnesota Supreme Court Finds State Law Does Not Preempt Proposed City Charter Amendment On Municipal Waste Collection System

By Andrew Pieper & Emily Atmore on May 30, 2019

In Jennissen v. City of Bloomington, 913 N.W.2d 456 (2018), the Minnesota Supreme Court recently held that Minn. Stat. § 115A.94 (2016) does not preempt local ordinances concerning municipal waste collection systems, finding that the Legislature did not intend to occupy the field but instead left room for supplemental municipal regulation. In reversing decisions by the Hennepin County District Court and the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Supreme Court specifically found that Minn. Stat.…

California Environmental Law

Be Careful of What You Wish For – Environmental Groups Complain about the Environmental Study of Hydraulic Fracturing That They Sued BLM to do

By Mike Mills & Daniel Quinley on May 24, 2019

On April 29, 2019, the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a Draft Supplement Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS) analyzing potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing for future oil & gas development within the 400,000 acre Bakersfield Field Office Planning Area. That planning area includes Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Venture counties. The Need for a Supplemental EIS The Draft SEIS is the latest development in…

World of Employment

Are Employers Required to Pay Interns?

By Matt Durham on May 14, 2019

Spring is in the air and summer is around the corner. You can see the signs everywhere. Flowers. Chirping birds. Increasing temperatures. And summer intern resumes. Experienced HR professionals know they will soon receive many resumes from eager students or recent graduates hoping to work as interns in order to gain valuable experience and networking opportunities. Often, intern candidates offer to work for free in exchange for the chance to gain experience in a job…

Ahead of Schedule

Five Reasons to Get the Contract Signed Before Construction Starts

By Zachary Davis on May 9, 2019

In the Pacific Northwest, Mother Nature can play a large part in whether or not a construction project will be completed on time and on budget. The importance to both owners and contractors of starting a construction project in order to take advantage of a window of good weather or other factors can make finalizing a contract secondary in importance to commencing work. In my latest article for the Daily Journal of Commerce, I look…

Stoel Rives LLP

Stoel Rives LLP Blogs

Blog Authors

NLRB Gives Employers Greater Discretion to Limit Union Activity on Their Premises

Oregon’s Workplace Fairness Act Means Major Changes for Oregon Employers

California Landlords May Need to Take Additional Steps by July 2019 to Comply with Prop 65

Clear Momentum Across US Towards Expanded Renewable Energy Policy

California Legislature Moves to Codify Dynamex

Upcoming Seminar on Public Works

In Reversal, Minnesota Supreme Court Finds State Law Does Not Preempt Proposed City Charter Amendment On Municipal Waste Collection System

Be Careful of What You Wish For – Environmental Groups Complain about the Environmental Study of Hydraulic Fracturing That They Sued BLM to do

Are Employers Required to Pay Interns?

Five Reasons to Get the Contract Signed Before Construction Starts

Company

Support

New to the Network