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EEOC Makes Protecting Rights Of LGBT Workers A Top Priority

As the debate over gay marriage continues to intensify throughout the country, so does the issue of workplace rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. LGBT workers currently face substantial...more

Appellate Court: Tenured Teachers May be Terminated for “Disability” Without Violating CFEPA

The Connecticut Appellate Court yesterday released two notable employment law decisions. They won’t become “official” until April 30, 2013, so you have some time to digest them. I’ll cover one today and leave the other for a...more

U.S. Supreme Court Hears DOMA Case—Now What?

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Windsor, 12-307, a case that raises the question of whether the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is constitutional. Among the various groups that are...more

Supreme Court Poised To Consider Additional Basis For Age Discrimination Claims

The Supreme Court may soon resolve a split among the appeals courts as to whether filing a charge under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the sole...more

New York Appeals Court Applies Liberal Standard in Reinstating a Sex Bias Claim Under the City Human Rights Law

In a recent decision from the Appellate Division, First Department, a unanimous panel reinstated claims asserted by three plaintiffs under the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”). The plaintiffs in Hernandez, et al. v....more

Can You Be Fired for Using Medical Marijuana?

In two recent cases, the EEOC settled with employers who had fired workers because of positive drug tests for prescription drugs. But in states where medical marijuana is legal, can employers fire employees who test positive...more

Third DCA Holds that Florida Civil Rights Act Does Not Prohibit Pregnancy Discrimination, Certifies Conflict with 4th DCA

Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal is the latest appellate court in Florida to rule that the Florida Civil Rights Act (“FCRA”) does not prohibit pregnancy discrimination. In Delva v. The Continental Group, Inc.,...more

Termination of Employee Based on her Marriage to an Undocumented Alien Does Not Violate VII

In 2011, the United States Supreme Court held in Thompson v. North American Stainless that an employer may violate Title VII by retaliating against an employee who is related to a worker engaged in conduct protected by Title...more

Employers May Not Be Entitled to Full Disclosure of Potential EEOC Class Action Before Suit Is Filed

Employers often expect that, before the EEOC can expand a single-employee EEOC charge into a class action lawsuit, the EEOC must explain the scope of any potential class action and offer an employer the opportunity to resolve...more

Justices Seem Open To Upholding Ariz. Immigration Law

Originally published in Law360, New York (April 25, 2012, 4:53 PM ET) The federal government appeared to find little support at the U.S Supreme Court on Wednesday for its arguments that one key provision of Arizona's...more

The EEOC Recognizes a Cause of Action under Title VII for Transgender Discrimination

We are not sure how many of you have run into this situation in your workforce yet. But we wanted to let you know in the event you do that the EEOC has recently confirmed that “transgender discrimination” is actionable under...more

Discharge of Pilot Arrested for Drug Possession Did Not Violate ERISA

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a federal trial court's determination that a pilot's ERISA lawsuit based on his termination was not precluded by the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and that the employer did not...more

Airline Managment Newsletter - August 2011

In this issue: Sixth Circuit Clarifies Employee's Burden of Proof for ADA Association Discrimination Claim Under the Distraction Theory; Wrongful Discharge Claim Preempted by the RLA; Former Airline Employee's Disability...more

ADA "Impliedly Amended" The National Bank Act's Termination-at-Pleasure Clause

Quinn v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 196 Cal. App. 4th 168 (2011) Robert Quinn, a former senior vice president of U.S. Bank, alleged he was denied accommodation, harassed and terminated because of a physical disability in violation...more

Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Legal Workers Act

n May 26, 2011, the United States Supreme Court issued a 5-3 decision in Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting upholding the Arizona Legal Workers Act (“the Act”). The Act provides that the business licenses of employers who...more

Mastering the Legalities of Medical Marijuana

Medical-marijuana laws present employers with a unique dilemma regarding how they handle employees or applicants who test positive for illegal drug use as compared to how they handle persons who test positive for prescribed...more

Phinessee v. Young Touchstone

Supplemental Brief discussing whether the Tennessee Supreme Court's decisions in Gossett and Kinsler (rejecting McDonnell Douglas)...

On September 20, 2010, the Tennessee Supreme Court issued two opinions rejecting application of the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting analysis to state law retaliatory discharge claims: Gossett v. Tractor Supply Company, and...more

Management Update - June/July 2008

IN THIS ISSUE: Federal Labor Law Pre-empts California's Prohibition on use of state funds to promote or deter organizing.......... 1 Supreme Court's Anticlimactic decision in Glenn does not streamline ERISA...more