Social Media + Employees = Hot Mess
#BigIdeas2020: NLRB’s Actions Impact Employers in 2020 - Employment Law This Week® - Trending News
On November 13, 2023, in USA ex rel, Morgan-Lee, et al. v. The Whittier Health Network, LLC, et al., a Massachusetts federal district judge concluded that although the plaintiff engaged in protected activity when she raised...more
On March 29, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida held that in order to engage in protected conduct under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), a plaintiff must specifically suspect that their employer...more
In response to a certified question posed by the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court on Jan. 27, 2022, resolved a years-long split among California courts by confirming that an...more
A recent case out of the Sixth Circuit, Mangold v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. reminds employers of the importance of keeping an employee’s participation in protected activity on a need-to-know basis as a preventative...more
On March 3, 2021, in Rohrer v. Oswego Cove, LLC, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s dismissal of an employee’s common-law wrongful discharge claim for seeking legal advice about her employment....more
Welcome to “Mining MSHA,” a regular series of posts focusing on mine safety fundamentals – but designed for both new and experienced mine safety professionals. This series will help safety professionals develop their MSHA...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
Seyfarth Synopsis: The DOL’s ARB rejected an employee’s SOX retaliation claim where he inadvertently provided information to his employer and only “hinted” that he was filing a SOX-protected complaint. The ARB seems unwilling...more
Piggybacking off my colleague Tim Reed’s recent post providing the background/plot and discussing employer liability issues in Amazon Studios’ The Boys, I am happy to continue expounding upon the various employment law issues...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employees’ use of their personal social media accounts in ways that could impact an employer’s business present challenges to employers....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Sixth Circuit recently upheld an administrative decision in favor of a miner’s whistleblower complaint, further underscoring the need for mine operators to implement strong anti-retaliation policies and...more
A federal district court in Kansas denied a car dealership’s motion for summary judgment regarding a former sales manager’s retaliation claims. Specifically, the sales manager contended that the company fired him because he...more
On February 28, 2018, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) issued an important decision for employers and employees, reminding all that protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act does not always shield...more
On February 12, 2018, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi recently denied a motion for summary judgment in a SOX whistleblower claim where the defendant company alleged that it terminated...more
The Fifth Circuit has issued another opinion in the continuing saga of Jackson State University and its past athletic director, Dr. Vivian Fuller—this one about retaliation against a witness. To refresh everyone’s memory: A...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini provided insight on a case in which a former commodities broker claimed her former employers retaliated against her for filing a civil rights complaint by causing her new employer to...more
A recent decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals highlights the distinction between firing an employee for personal or politically expedient reasons (which may be entirely legal) and firing an employee because of his...more
Can employees protest a company sick leave policy with an internet meme that suggests the company’s food is not safe? Not according to a recent Eighth Circuit decision. MikLin (doing business as Jimmy John’s in Minnesota)...more
January 2017 is one of those rare months including a Friday the 13th, which might bring to mind a horror movie where a seemingly vanquished killer somehow rises to his feet – once again! – to wreak havoc on his stunned...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: An employee who expresses opposition to an employer’s policies and practices that affect members of the general public is not engaging in an activity that FEHA protects, because the activity is not opposing...more
It turns out that “protected activity” sufficient to make out a retaliation claim in California is not as broad as it may sometimes seem. On November 9, 2016, the Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for the employer in...more
In Westawski v. Merck & Co., No. 14-cv-3239 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 18, 2016), the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted Defendant Merck & Co. (Company) summary judgment on Plaintiff Joni Westawski’s (Plaintiff) SOX whistleblower...more
Question: One of our male supervisors wants to fire a female employee who complained that he was sexually harassing her. The harassment allegations appear to have some substance: he asked her for pictures of herself in a...more
On April 8, 2016, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment in favor of an employer in Hance v. BNSF Railway Company, a failure-to-hire retaliation case brought under the Uniformed Services Employment and...more
On May 28, 2015, the Sixth Circuit in Rhinehimer v. U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. affirmed a $250,000 jury verdict in favor of a former financial advisor for U.S. Bancorp Investments (“USBII”) who alleged that he had been...more