The daily business briefing: August 24, 2016

1. Labor board says working grad students are university employees

The National Labor Relations Board ruled Tuesday that private-university graduate students who teach and serve as research assistants qualify as school employees. The 3-to-1 decision gives them the right to join or form unions, overturning a 2004 Brown University ruling in which the board said giving grad students union rights ran counter to the purposes of graduate education, because students in many programs have to teach and participate in research projects to earn their degrees. Universities argued that changing working students' status would shift their relationships with their schools, changing it from educational to economic.

The Washington Post

2. Tesla gives some vehicles more powerful battery packs

Tesla Motors on Tuesday said that it was adding a more powerful battery pack to versions of its Model S sedan and Model X sport utility vehicle. The new Model S P100D, with its 100 kilowatt-hour battery, will be the world's quickest production car. It also will have a range of 315 miles on a single charge. The introduction of the new Model S is seen as a bid by Tesla CEO Elon Musk to appeal to sport-car lovers. The new Model S will be able to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds, compared to 2.8 seconds clocked by the P90D.

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Bloomberg

3. Another Fox News host files a sexual harassment lawsuit

Fox News host Andrea Tantaros this week filed a lawsuit against the network, former CEO Roger Ailes, and other executives, saying the cable news outlet "masquerades as defender of traditional family values" but "operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult." The suit, filed Monday in New York, adds to Fox News' legal and PR problems following another sexual harassment accusation by ex-host Gretchen Carlson, whose lawsuit led to Ailes' resignation in July. Tantaros is still on the Fox News payroll, but says she was yanked off the air after complaining about being sexually harassed by Ailes.

Los Angeles Times

4. EpiPen maker faces backlash over soaring prices

Criticism is mounting against drug maker Mylan over massive price increases for its EpiPens, injectors that are used to quickly treat severe allergic reactions. The average wholesale price of EpiPens has increased by nearly 500 percent since 2009. The steady, steep increase has been thrust into the spotlight this week as parents are stocking up on EpiPens as they send their kids back to school and are being hit with high deductibles, prompting public criticism of the company by members of Congress, doctors, and consumers.

USA Today The Washington Post

5. Turkish stocks drop after anti-ISIS military offensive begins inside Syria

Turkish stocks plunged by as much as 2.9 percent on Wednesday after the country sent tanks and special forces across the border into Syria in a push to drive Islamic State fighters out of a border town. The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index trimmed its losses, trading down 1.8 percent by mid-afternoon, but still appeared headed for its biggest one-day drop since the country's credit rating was downgraded last month.

Bloomberg