The Tenth Circuit recently reaffirmed that employers may lawfully enforce a policy against surreptitious recordings. In Spagnolia v. Charter Communications, LLC, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit...more
The Situation: The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently considered a "pretext" theory as applied to unsolicited fax advertisement claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). The...more
The California Fair Employment and Housing Council has published an amended Regulation on national origin discrimination, which will take effect on July 1, 2018. In addition to defining "national origin" and providing...more
An employer’s shifting rationale for termination doomed it to facing a jury trial on a pregnancy discrimination claim in the recent case Fassbender v. Correct Care Solutions....more
Ghosts, ghouls, and ghastly liability; the last is certainly enough to spook any employer. For this Halloween, we take a trip down Elm Street to revisit the most startling nightmares we’ve ever covered....more
A recent opinion from the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals involving Tulsa’s American Airlines facility serves as a reminder of the kind of evidence required to establish retaliation....more
Jobseeker Website May Be Compelled To Disclose Identity Of Anonymous Posters Who Criticized Employer - ZL Technologies, Inc. v. Does 1-7, 13 Cal. App. 5th 603 (2017) - ZL Technologies brought suit, alleging libel per se and...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini commented on a case in which a former financial advisor of JPMS claimed his employment was terminated based on racial discrimination. Through application of the three-part burden...more
White male discontent has been a major media talking point since the presidential election, and even long before. This talking point has made its way into the workplace, where tech firms are now being targeted for allegedly...more
It’s a common scene played out in employment discrimination and retaliation lawsuits everywhere: An employee is demoted, terminated, or otherwise affected by an employer’s action. The employer claims the decision was made for...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini discussed a case in which the plaintiff, a former stockbroker, sued his employer after he was terminated claiming discrimination under the ADA and ADEA. Under these statutes and...more
The issue of pretext recently played out in a sex discrimination case in which the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals had to decide whether an employer’s reasons for demoting an employee were legitimate or just a ruse to cover up...more
On March 10, 2017, the Tenth Circuit in Henson v. AmeriGas Propane, Inc., no.: 16-7057, declined to revive a discrimination and wrongful discharge lawsuit in finding that the lower court was correct in its holding that that...more
When an employee brings a lawsuit alleging that his employer retaliated or discriminated against him, courts typically assess the claim by using a burden-shifting approach. Under this approach, after the employer offers a...more
Although Pokémon Go is only 21 days young, over 30 million users have downloaded and played the augmented reality game on their smartphones. In the latest release of the pocket monster franchise, your mission is to capture...more
Last week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a seminal ruling in Bulwer v. Mt. Auburn, which clarified the type of evidence an employment discrimination plaintiff needs to defeat a summary judgment motion. In...more
On February 29, 2016, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”), in Bulwer v. Mount Auburn Hospital, articulated the type of evidence required for a plaintiff to survive summary judgment and have his claims heard by a...more
We are often asked what, if anything, employers should tell an employee about the reasons for the employee’s termination, especially if the termination is abrupt. We tell employers to tell the truth....more
Newly Enacted California Statutes - The Word "Alien" Is Stricken From The California Labor Code - Section 1725 of the California Labor Code defines "alien" as "any person who is not a born or fully naturalized...more
On Thursday, August 27, 2015, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster found Dole Food Co., Inc. (“Dole”) Chief Executive Officer, David Murdock, and General Counsel, C. Michael Carter, liable to investors for $148 million in fraud...more
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York recently found that two former employees of Eihab Human Services (Company) raised a genuine issue of material fact as to whether they were discharged in retaliation...more
In May 2015, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which has jurisdiction over federal courts in Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina) issued an opinion with negative consequences for employers...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s opinion (issued May 22, 2015 with a public, redacted version available May 28, 2015), affirming the district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction in State of New York v....more
Last Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), which involves a claim of pregnancy discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)....more
The Tenth Circuit recently ruled that pretext would not be found if an employer terminated an employee based on a genuine belief that the employee had violated company policy....more