New Title IX Regulations: A Seismic Shift During a Pandemic (Webinar Recording)
On July 9, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit took the latest step in a continuing controversy about when obscenity or other misconduct by a worker, while raising otherwise protected job complaints,...more
On July 9, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit told the National Labor Relations Board’s to reconsider the standard for whether abusive or inappropriate speech is protected under Section 7 of the...more
The first round of increases to minimum salaries required to claim the Fair Labor Standards Act’s white-collar overtime exemptions took effect July 1. Unless blocked by federal courts, the second, larger increase in the...more
Lisa, one of your team’s sales representatives, has been a consistent performer during her first year with the company. She has proven herself to be detail oriented, personable with clients, and willing to assist her team to...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act does not require employers to ignore or excuse serious violations of their rules of conduct. For example, an employee who brings a weapon to work in violation of the employer’s policy...more
In a decision that had been anticipated, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) abandoned its short-lived burden-shifting test for determining the legality of employer discipline of employees found to have...more
Lion Elastomers Revives a "Setting-Specific" Standard That Is Again Likely to Lead to Arbitrary Results and Conflicting Obligations Under Various Statutes - After the National Labor Relations Board's recent decision in...more
Now more than ever, it seems that employees are willing to express themselves. While open communication with and among employees is usually a good thing, sometimes an employer’s rules are broken in the process. A worker...more
Employers in Connecticut need to be aware that Connecticut law makes the free speech provisions of both the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and those of the Connecticut Constitution applicable to...more
Despite a disclaimer, the Alabama Supreme Court held the City of Montevallo’s Employee Handbook created a contract with employees that placed additional obligations on the City before it could terminate employees....more
Although it seems counterintuitive, we regularly run across situations where clients want to fire or demote an employee who recently received a promotion, stellar performance review, or some other kind of reward for good...more
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's COVID-19 technical guidance was first published in March 2020 and has been periodically updated throughout the pandemic to address new issues such as vaccine mandates. ...more
No good deed goes unpunished - Little did City of Durham Police Sergeant Michael Mole' know, in his first crack at negotiating on his own the surrender of an armed and barricaded suspect, that he would be fired because he...more
Prior to the advent of social media, employers were generally comfortable drawing a bright line between what employees did on their own time and workplace misconduct. However, those bygone times have been replaced by a modern...more
When evaluating employee discipline or termination, there are a number of factors to consider: Did the employee have notice of the policy or rule he allegedly violated?...more
With the Memorial Day holiday weekend came the release of Disney’s next sure-to-be blockbuster movie, Cruella. Based on the classic animated film 101 Dalmatians, Cruella tells the story of Cruella de Vil, the evil...more
The change in administrations has released a flood of protestors, some of whom have engaged in violent acts, while at the same time creating potential COVID-19 “super-spreader” events in the workplace. How should—and...more
The Trump-era National Labor Relations Board has struck again. On July 21, 2020 in General Motors LLC, 14-CA-197985, 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020), the NLRB overruled longstanding precedent and rejected “setting-specific”...more
The National Labor Relations Board has finally abandoned its problematic standard around the discipline and discharge of employees who engage in abusive conduct in connection with protected concerted activity. On July 21, the...more
On Tuesday, the three-member, all Republican, National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) issued a 3-0 decision in General Motors LLC and Charles Robinson, 369 NLRB No. 127 (July 21, 2020)...more
NLRB Decision Gives Employers More Leeway to Discipline Employees for Offensive Speech. Traditionally, the National Labor Relations Act protected offensive or even abusive speech by employees when the worker is involved in...more
The National Labor Relations Board has traditionally applied separate tests to evaluate whether employee discipline violated the National Labor Relations Act, depending on the context of the underlying misconduct. This has...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: When an employee violates company rules or policies, a company is within its rights to respond with appropriate corrective action. How to respond, however, can become complicated when an employee engages in...more
As an employment law attorney, I am frequently asked to review or prepare employer handbooks. Some of the most common mistakes or omissions that I see can create real problems for Arizona employers. The following are the top...more
Anytime employees are sent on business trips, they represent the company. Often, the sanctity of that responsibility is preserved. Other times, it is not. Today’s column takes a look at a film that heavily follows the latter...more