John Dudrey

John Dudrey

John Dudrey is of counsel in the firm’s Labor & Employment group. His practice focuses on assisting clients with complex labor and employment litigation matters. John has experience assisting with state and federal jury trials and administrative proceedings, including NLRB proceedings.

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DOL Publishes Final Independent Contractor Rule to Take Effect in March

By John Dudrey, Adam Belzberg, Ryan Kunkel and Chris Wall on Posted in Department of Labor, FLSA, Updates
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a final rule addressing independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).  Independent contractor status is a critical question under the FLSA because eligible employees are entitled to the law’s protections (for example, minimum wage and overtime for non-exempt employees) but independent contractors are not.  Incorrectly … Continue Reading

Department of Labor Publishes Final Rule Regarding Tip Pools and Tip Credits

By John Dudrey and Karen O'Connor on Posted in Department of Labor, employer policies, FLSA, Updates
After a lengthy and contentious rulemaking process, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published its final rule revising its tipped-employee regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) last week. The new rules take effect 60 days from their publication in the Federal Register, which will occur shortly.  Here is a summary of the new rules’ … Continue Reading

EEOC Publishes Guidance Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines

By John Dudrey, Caroline Sundbaum, Dexter Pearce and Brenda Baumgart on Posted in ADA, COVID-19, Gov't Agencies, Updates
*This article was originally published as a Legal Alert on December 17, 2020. With the COVID-19 vaccine becoming available to some and just around the corner for others, the question on many employers’ (and employees’) minds is whether they can (or should) mandate employees be vaccinated as a condition of employment. The Equal Employment Opportunity … Continue Reading

Oregon Employment Department Posts First Draft of Proposed Paid Family Medical Leave Rules

By John Dudrey and Karen O'Connor on Posted in Oregon
As we’ve blogged about previously here, here, and here, in 2019, the Oregon legislature passed a paid family and medical leave (“PFML”) law which provides Oregon employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave for a covered purpose through a payroll tax; Oregon employers with at least 25 employees are covered by the new … Continue Reading

Oregon OSHA Issues Sample Materials for Required Employee Training and Releases Delayed Enforcement Memorandum

By John Dudrey, Karen O'Connor and Caroline Sundbaum on Posted in COVID-19, employer policies, Oregon, Updates
Oregon OSHA has just released a series of materials, including sample training materials, to help employers comply with OR-OSHA’s temporary workplace safety rules related to COVID-19.  We previously discussed the OR-OSHA rules here and here.  The new materials are summarized below. Sample Training Materials Employers must provide employees with COVID-19 information and training by December … Continue Reading

The COVID-19 Vaccine Is Coming: Can Employers Require Employees to Get Vaccinated?

By John Dudrey, Dexter Pearce and Laura Rosenbaum on Posted in COVID-19, Oregon
With FDA approval of a COVID-19 vaccine possibly coming this week, employers are wondering whether they can require their employees to get vaccinated as a condition of employment.  For many employers, the answer is yes, subject to a few exceptions. As a general matter, employers are free to set the terms and conditions of employment, … Continue Reading

OR-OSHA Publishes Model Infection Control Policy Required by New COVID- 19 Rules

By John Dudrey, Lou Ferreira, Karen O'Connor and Willa Perlmutter on Posted in coronavirus, COVID-19, employer policies, Oregon, OSHA
On November 6, 2020, the Oregon Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OR-OSHA”) published final temporary rules for workplace safety protections specific to COVID-19. Our alert about the new rules is available here. Among other requirements, the new rules require employers to adopt a COVID-19 Infection Notification policy for notifying exposed and affected employees of possible … Continue Reading

Take Action to Comply with OR-OSHA’s Final Temporary COVID-19 Safety Rules

By John Dudrey, Lou Ferreira, Karen O'Connor and Willa Perlmutter on Posted in coronavirus, COVID-19, employer policies, Oregon, OSHA
On November 6, 2020, the Oregon Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OR-OSHA”) published final temporary rules for workplace safety protections specific to COVID-19. The text of the final rules is available on OR-OSHA’s website. The effective date for the new rules is November 16, 2020, although the timeline for different requirements under the rules varies. … Continue Reading

Oregon Employment Department Sponsors “Town Halls” to Discuss Paid Family and Medical Leave Program

By John Dudrey and Karen O'Connor on Posted in Oregon
As many of you know, in 2019 the Oregon Legislature passed (and Governor Brown signed) HB 2005, which creates a Paid Family and Medical Leave program for Oregon employees. Our original blog posts about the new law are here and here. The Oregon Employment Department has launched listening sessions for employers and employees across Oregon … Continue Reading

Department of Labor Issues Regulations and Updates Guidance for Families First Coronavirus Response Act

By Melissa Healy and John Dudrey on Posted in COVID-19, Updates
On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued regulations for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), which went into effect the same day.  The regulations are available here. The majority of the content in the regulations is not new and simply repeats information that is also available in the DOL’s FAQs … Continue Reading

OR-OSHA Announces Workplace Social Distancing Investigations

By Brenda Baumgart, Lou Ferreira and John Dudrey on Posted in coronavirus, COVID-19, Oregon
In the wake of an onslaught of employee complaints about social distancing in the workplace, the Oregon Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OR-OSHA”) announced that it would begin workplace inspections in order to enforce the social distancing requirements imposed by Governor Brown’s March 23 Executive Order.  Our blog post describing the Executive Order is here, … Continue Reading

Required Notice of Rights Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

By Jim Shore and John Dudrey on Posted in coronavirus, COVID-19, Department of Labor, News
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) requires private companies with fewer than 500 employees, along with most public employers regardless of size, to post a notice summarizing the benefits available under the new law and directs the Department of Labor to prepare and publish a model notice. The Department issued its model notice yesterday. … Continue Reading

NLRB Postpones All Representation Elections Until At Least April 3

By John Dudrey, Tim O'Connell and Victor Kisch on Posted in COVID-19, NLRB, quickie election, Trump Board
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) announced yesterday that all currently scheduled representation elections – including vote-by-mail elections—have been postponed until at least April 3, 2020 because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.  Here is what the NLRB had to say: Due to the extraordinary circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Labor Relations Board … Continue Reading

A Return to Common Sense in Federal Labor Law

By Ryan Kunkel, John Dudrey and Todd Hanchett on Posted in employer policies, Labor, Obama Board, quickie election, Trump Board, Uncategorized, Updates
Through a series of decisions issued in late 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) has signaled a return to common sense in its approach to the rules governing labor relations.  Here are a few of the Board’s decisions that are of interest to employers. Employers May Require Employees to Maintain Confidentiality in … Continue Reading

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

By Ryan Kunkel, John Dudrey and Karen O'Connor on Posted in employee handbooks, employer policies, News, Oregon, Practical Tips, Updates
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 … Continue Reading

Trump NLRB Shakes Up the Labor World in Striking Down Numerous Obama Board Decisions

By John Dudrey, Ryan Kunkel, Tim O'Connell and Jim Shore on Posted in Board settlement, Cases, Labor, News, NLRB, Updates
It might appear that in some years, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) issues a series of decisions just as the year comes to a close, but it is not because the Board wants to give out holiday presents (or, from the employer’s perspective for the past several years, multiple lumps of coal).  Rather, … Continue Reading

Department of Labor Seeks Input on New Rules for White Collar Exemptions

By Ryan Kunkel, John Dudrey and Matt Durham on Posted in Department of Labor, FLSA, Gov't Agencies, Updates, wage and hour
Employers know that the salary rule for “white collar” exemptions from President Obama’s Department of Labor (“DOL”) was blocked by a federal court last year (we blogged about that here).  (UPDATE: A Texas federal court invalided the rule on August 31, 2017.)  That rule would have more than doubled the salary requirement for an overtime … Continue Reading

OSHA Rescinds Rule on Union Reps Participating in Safety Walk-Throughs

By John Dudrey on Posted in Labor, OSHA
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) announced late last week that it was rescinding its 2013 “Fairfax” memorandum, which allowed union representatives to participate in workplace safety walk-throughs. Here is the background. Soon after the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“the Act”) passed in 1970, OSHA interpreted the law to allow employees to accompany … Continue Reading

Breaking: Court Rules Against Double Overtime for Oregon Manufacturing Employers

By John Dudrey and Ed Reeves on Posted in BOLI, Cases, Oregon, wage and hour
Oregon manufacturing employers have been following the ongoing turmoil surrounding the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries’ (“BOLI”) recent interpretation of Oregon’s requirement that manufacturing employees receive overtime when they work more than 10 hours in a day.  In the latest turn, a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge ruled yesterday that, contrary to BOLI’s advice, … Continue Reading

The Ninth Circuit Joins Its Sister Circuits in Ruling That an Employee Who Threatens Co-Workers with Violence Is Not “Qualified” Under the ADA

By Brenda Baumgart, Karen O'Connor and John Dudrey on Posted in ADA, Cases, Oregon, Updates
The Ninth Circuit released a precedent-setting Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) decision yesterday, and it’s a big win for employers.  The Court held that an employee who makes “serious and credible threats of violence toward his co-workers” is not a “qualified individual with a disability” and therefore cannot state a claim under the ADA or … Continue Reading

NLRB Final Rule: “Quickie” Elections are Now Reality

By Terry Briscoe and John Dudrey on Posted in Labor, NLRB
As anticipated, on December 12, 2014 the NLRB announced that the final “Quickie” Election Rule will be published in the Federal Register on December 15, 2014 and will take effect on April 14, 2015. Among other changes, the rule will shorten the time between the filing of a petition and the election for union representation … Continue Reading

Court of Appeals Interprets Definition of “Independent Contractor” Under ORS 670.600

By John Dudrey on Posted in Oregon
A new case from the Oregon Court of Appeals, Compressed Pattern LLC v. Employment Department, provides some clarity about the “maintain a separate business location” prong of Oregon’s unique independent contractor statute, ORS 670.600. First, the facts.  In the summer of 2009, a design company retained a recently-laid-off architectural intern to provide drafting services on … Continue Reading

Oregon Court of Appeals Upholds Wrongful Discharge Claim By Whistleblowing Prison Guard

By John Dudrey on Posted in Oregon
Is the Oregon Court of Appeals back in the wrongful-discharge business? It’s a fair question to ask after the court’s decision last week in Lucas v. Lake County, –Or. App.– (2012).  Reversing the trial court’s motion to dismiss, the court held that a sheriff’s deputy who served as a correctional officer could sue for wrongful discharge … Continue Reading
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