The 2017-18 U.S. Supreme Court term saw employers having their cake and eating it, too (with a couple of minor exceptions). Overall, the court rejected plaintiffs’ quests for more favorable applications of Fair Labor Standards Act overtime, retaliation and arbitration laws or precedent. The several decisions that negatively impact employers are largely procedural or very limited in their application. Think of them as vegetables along what was otherwise a cakewalk term.

Sweet Treats From SCOTUS

  • State agency rebuked for failing to consider cake baker’s sincerely held religious belief.

The court issued a 7-2 decision against the Colorado Civil Rights Commission (CCRC) in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, holding that CCRC failed to give due deference to a baker’s religious beliefs when CCRC determined that the baker was required to bake and sell a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.