Articles Discussing General Human Resources Issues.

Some have said that the legal profession is late to the data science party. Why? What are the primary challenges to using artificial intelligence and related methods in this space? What does the future hold for AI in the legal space?

Three significant decisions in the employment law arena were issued over the last ten days, two by the United States Supreme Court and one by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. First, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Green v. Brennan, holding that the statute of limitations for a constructive discharge claim under Title VII begins to accrue on the date an employee resigns, and not on the date of the discriminatory action that allegedly led the employee to resign.

Although this election season may feel endless, there are only six more months until voters decide the next president and members of Congress. Within this window, federal agencies are scrambling to finalize rules before the next administration takes hold.

On May 16, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, a case raising the procedural question whether any and all violations of a federal statute are sufficient for a plaintiff to file a lawsuit in federal court (i.e., satisfy the “injury-in-fact” requirement for standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution).

According to a recent New York Times article, “Facebook scrambled on Monday to respond to a new and startling line of attack: accusations of political bias.” Slate followed with a report that the online social networking giant became the subject of a United States Senate inquiry, with Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune wanting information about how Facebook chooses stories for its “Trending” section, among other things. According to the reports, Facebook promotes its Trending section as an algorithmic tool that identifies the stories people using the site are most interested in at a given point in time, while former “curators” of the section tell a different story, that Facebook’s Trending section is a more subjective tool than users may realize.

On April 20, 2016, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court, Southern District of California against Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. The lawsuit was initiated by a former employee whose W-2 was allegedly disclosed as part of a phishing scam that occurred in late March 2016 amid reports that Sprouts’ employees had their IRS tax refunds stolen. According to the complaint, the W-2s of Sprouts’ employees were disclosed to a third party as a result of the phishing scam.

Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute Insider Report details key labor, employment, and benefits news and events at the federal, state, local, and global levels. The May edition of the Insider Report discusses recent agency rulemaking, legislative maneuvers to block new and pending rules, and state efforts to enact labor and employment laws that have stalled at the federal level. The Report contains the following sections:

The ROI on using big data makes a clear case for the growing use of Big Data in organizations. Human Resource departments are using data analytics to improve the process of selecting and hiring employees and to create a more objective method for conducting performance evaluations. Companies can also leverage information modeling to help make promotion decisions, predict which employees are most likely to leave the company and test the impact of new employment policies. In the first episode of Littler’s Big Data Initiative podcast, Dr. Zev Eigen, Littler’s Global Director of Data Analytics, discusses the risks and rewards inherent in collecting and analyzing data. He outlines the broad and exciting opportunities presented by predictive modeling, and how data science can augment human intelligence. Future episodes will feature special guests and further explore ways professionals within both the HR and legal space can better understand and anticipate “predictably irrational” human behavior.

This month’s edition of Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute Insider Report includes articles on the Administration’s push to finalize rules before the November elections, legislative and litigation steps to thwart those efforts, and state bills and ordinances that have advanced in recent weeks. The Report contains the following sections:

In 2011, the United Nations adopted the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“UN Guiding Principles”), which provide non-binding guidelines on how employers should conduct their business activities to provide appropriate respect for internationally recognized human rights. Recently, various organizations – including national governments, international organizations, workers’ organizations, and non-profit entities – have all attempted to transform the “soft law” nature of the UN Guiding Principles into hard laws that may have real consequences for employers.1 To support this, several initiatives have arisen to facilitate corporate human rights reporting and measurement in connection with the UN Guiding Principles.2

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-to-3 decision, has ruled that federal law enforcement may not freeze an accused’s assets needed to pay criminal defense lawyers if the assets are not linked to a crime. Luis v. United States, No. 14-419 (Mar. 30, 2016).

A month after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, President Obama has appointed Merrick B. Garland to fill the High Court vacancy. Judge Garland currently is Chief Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He is viewed by many as a more centrist choice for the position. A closer look at his record, however, reveals that Judge Garland is someone whose positions on employment-related issues are not as centrist as he may be portrayed. There is some indication, however, that he may be a more palatable choice for Republicans should a Democrat be elected President in November.

Recognizing the growing number of connected and interconnected devices, a bipartisan group of Senators recently introduced a bill which would convene a working group of Federal stakeholders to provide recommendations to Congress on how to appropriately plan for and encourage the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT).

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) gave the fintech online payment sector a “wake up call” with an enforcement action against a Des Moines start up digital payment provider, Dwolla, Inc. (“Dwolla”).

Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute® (WPI™) presents the Insider Report, a monthly newsletter detailing key labor, employment, and benefits policy developments at the federal, state, local and global levels. This month’s edition includes articles on federal agency priorities for the remainder of President Obama’s term, which state bills are advancing, and how employers should respond when politics enters the workplace.