Insights

Washington – February 8, 2021: The Irish Voice named Crowell & Moring’s Christine Hawes to the annual “Irish Legal 100” list. The list is a “compilation of the most distinguished legal professionals in the United States who share one common bond: pride in their Irish roots.” The “Irish Legal 100 2020” marks the thirteenth annual edition of the list.

Washington – October 16, 2020: DV LEAP, a Washington, D.C.-based national domestic violence legal advocacy organization, has named Crowell & Moring lawyers Trina Fairley Barlow and Christine Hawes as its Pro Bono Team of the Year. The mission of the organization is to make “the law work for survivors of domestic violence by challenging unjust trial outcomes; advancing legal protections through expert pro bono advocacy; training lawyers, advocates, and judges on best practices; and spearheading domestic violence litigation in the supreme court.” The lawyers received the award at DV LEAP’s Tip the Scales of Justice Virtual Benefit on October 15.

Washington, D.C. – January 9, 2017: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that it has elected six lawyers to the firm's partnership, effective January 1, 2017. The firm has also promoted 19 associates to the position of counsel. The new partners have been promoted from within the ranks of the firm's Washington, D.C., New York, Orange County, and Los Angeles offices and underscore the firm's commitment to its Antitrust, Commercial Litigation, Environment & Natural Resources, Government Contracts, Health Care, International Trade, and White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement practices.

On February 8, 2024, the Supreme Court decided Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC, No. 22-660, holding that a whistleblower must prove that his or her protected activity was a contributing factor in the unfavorable personnel action but does not need to prove that his or her employer acted with “retaliatory intent.”

On December 14, 2023, the Department of Labor (“DoL”) issued a final rule implementing Executive Order 14055, “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts” (the “Rule”). The Rule requires contractors to give service employees from a predecessor contract a bona fide right of first refusal for employment under new Service Contract Act (“SCA”)-covered contracts, contract-like instruments, or subcontracts for the same or similar work. These bona fide offers to service employees—as defined by the SCA—must be made before the contractor makes offers to other workers. The Rule will go into effect on February 12, 2024.

On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule updating regulations governing federally funded construction projects subject to the Davis-Bacon Act and Related Acts (“DBA”). The final rule is the first significant regulatory update to the DBA since 1982.  Among other things, the final rule changes how DOL will calculate the applicable prevailing wage for any given classification of workers on a DBA-covered contract when the default “majority” prevailing wage calculation is not possible; in particular it supplants the current “weighted average” calculation approach with the “30-percent rule.” The revised rule will go into effect on October 23, 2023 – 60 days after it was published in the Federal Register.

Please join us for the next edition of Third Thursday – Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Update, a webinar series dedicated to helping our clients stay on top of developing law and emerging compliance issues. The EEOC has brought several lawsuits, including a widely-publicized case filed in Chicago against the CVS pharmacy chain, challenging several provisions commonly used by employers in settlement and release agreements. EEOC claims that such provisions inappropriately chill the right of the Commission to enforce Title VII and, by implication, other EEO statutes. These cases raise tricky questions about standard language use in many settlement agreements, including non-disparagement clauses and provisions requiring ongoing cooperation by former employees. Other cases, including private party litigation challenging the terms of release agreements intended to comply with the complex provisions of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, reveal several open issues about how best to frame release agreements, particularly in workforce restructuring situations. These developments make it a good time for employers to take another look at their waiver and release agreements. A panel of Crowell & Moring lawyers will review these issues in a roundtable discussion. We will focus on practical solutions for employers seeking enforceable settlement agreements. This webinar is scheduled for Thursday, August 21 at 12:00 pm EDT. We hope that you can join us for this timely and lively discussion.

In this episode, hosts Jason Crawford and Mana Lombardo speak with Trina Fairley Barlow, a partner in the firm’s Labor and Employment and Government Contracts groups, and Christine Hawes, counsel in the Labor & Employment Group, to discuss the False Claims Act’s retaliation provision and considerations for investigating FCA allegations brought by whistleblowers. "Let's Talk FCA" is Crowell & Moring’s podcast covering the latest developments with the False Claims Act.