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Sarah is a member of the firm’s Employment and Labor practice group.  She assists public and private sector clients in a variety of matters, including grievance and interest arbitrations, prohibited practice proceedings, and labor negotiations. Sarah also represents employers before state and federal courts and agencies with respect to employment matters ranging from employment discrimination and wrongful termination to tortious interference, breach of contract, and wage and hour claims.

On May 23, 2025, a National Labor Relations Board  (“NLRB”) administrative law judge held that a cannabis company violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) by laying off store associates without bargaining the impact with their union, and by directly dealing with employees.

While the decision here is not novel, the fact that an administrative

Effective October 1, 2025, access to the Connecticut Family Medical Leave Act (“CT FMLA”) and Connecticut Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance (“CT Paid Leave”) will be expanded to include all non-certified school employees at both public schools and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools in Connecticut.

Under current law, CT FMLA and CT Paid Leave coverage

On June 4, 2025, embedded in an omnibus bonding bill, the Connecticut General Assembly amended the Connecticut Paid Sick Leave Act as it applies to certain employees of municipalities and boards of education.  While the proposed text has passed both the Senate and the House, it will not go into effect until the Governor

On May 20, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Oregon held that the labor peace agreement (“LPA”) mandate, Measure 119, which requires all state-licensed cannabis businesses to sign a labor peace agreement with a labor union, is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) in violation of the Supremacy Clause

On April 14, 2025, a cannabis retailer filed suit to challenge the provision of New York’s cannabis law that requires licensed businesses to maintain labor peace agreements with their workers. The New York lawsuit asserts that certain provisions of the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (“MRTA”) are preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). 

On Tuesday, December 10, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (“the Board”) limited an employer’s right to make unilateral changes in the workplace, restoring one of “the oldest and most familiar doctrines” in labor law: the clear and unmistakable waiver standard. 

An employer makes a unilateral change when it modifies certain conditions of employment (mandatory

On Monday, February 5, 2024, the Region 1 Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a Decision and Direction of Election that permits the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team to proceed forward with a union election. 

The National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) grants expansive rights to employees of most private sector

On January 9, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule (“Final Rule”) defining the term independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), rescinding the previous definition of independent contractor outlined in 2021 (“2021 Rule”). The Final Rule establishes a six-factor test based on the economic reality of the worker

We begin Season 2 of From Lawyer to Employer with a discussion about the recent Stericycle Decision from the National Labor Relations Board. Listen as guest speaker, Sarah Niemiroski chats with host, Daniel Schwartz about the the far-reaching impacts this decision has for employers when creating workplace policies. What’s different about Stericycle as opposed to Boeing? What type

On August 2, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a 3-2 decision, Stericycle, Inc., that adopted a new legal standard for evaluating employers’ workplace policies and rules. Under the new standard, an employer’s workplace policy may violate employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) if its policies have a “reasonable