The Chartwell Chronicles: Employment Law
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#WorkforceWednesday: OSHA ETS on Hold, Retaliation Claims Increase, "Vaccination Ambassadors" - Employment Law This Week®
Seyfarth Synopsis: The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision that “but-for” is the proper causation standard for FMLA retaliation claims addressed within the...more
On August 15, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held in Roberts v. Gestamp West Virginia, LLC, that an employer’s “usual and customary” notice procedures relating to absences extended beyond the company’s...more
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas recently denied an employer’s motion for summary judgment when its alleged shifting reasons for terminating the plaintiff’s employment contract raised genuine issues...more
Trial Court Properly Dismissed Employee’s CFRA And Disability Discrimination Claims - Choochagi v. Barracuda Networks, Inc., 60 Cal. App. 5th 444 (2021) - George Choochagi worked as a technical support manager for...more
Summary: Employers have a duty to investigate the accuracy of any criminal conviction report prior to terminating an employee on the basis of such information where there is evidence that the report may be incorrect. ...more
On June 1, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals entered an unpublished, per curiam decision affirming the grant of summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville division...more
A former executive and in-house lawyer for the Miami Heat basketball franchise sued the team for allegedly violating her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act when she was terminated from her employment. ...more
It’s hard to believe another year is coming to a close, but here we are. As part of my personal year-end celebration, I have prepared an informal ranking of the top mistakes I’ve tried to help clients avoid, correct, or...more
Under the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), employers are required to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave to employees with certain family or medical issues. These issues include attending to serious health conditions that make...more
Last year, we reported a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision establishing a rule that leave of more than a few weeks in duration falls outside employers’ reasonable accommodation obligations under the Americans with...more
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc., leaving in place dismissal of an employee’s Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”)...more
Employers everywhere have been repeatedly warned not to automatically terminate employees who have exhausted their Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. Instead, employers should first consider whether the employee might...more
On March 15, 2017, in Moss v. Harris County Constable Precinct One, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed that an employer is not required to accommodate an employee who is requesting indefinite leave as a reasonable...more
A recent federal appeals court decision case upheld an employer’s termination of a diabetic employee for misconduct, despite the employee’s argument that her poor work performance was a result of low-blood sugar....more
In the Third Circuit, an employer’s honest belief that an employee committed misconduct can now serve as a defense to a retaliation claim under the FMLA. With the recent decision in Capps v. Mondelez Global, LLC the Third...more
Obesity is still a hot topic both in our health conscious culture and in our courtrooms where we continue to see ADAAA claims based on the notion that an employer fired an employee because the employee was obese. After the...more
Most Arizona employers are aware that Arizona is an “at-will” employment state. However, many do not understand what that means. In short, it means that an employee can be terminated for any reason or no reason, except a...more
Intermittent FMLA leave can be a source of frustration for employers even when it is used appropriately because it complicates staffing and planning and interrupts business operations. But when an employee’s use of...more
FMLA abuse is an increasing problem oftentimes leaving employers searching for options. However, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals gave employers a win in Sharif v. United Airlines, Inc., when it affirmed an employer’s...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an ADA action regarding disability discrimination, the Fifth Circuit reversed a District Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the employer and against the EEOC, noting that even though the...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
Commercial Real Estate Services Company Fired Employee with Breast Cancer, Federal Agency Charges - BALTIMORE - Cushman & Wakefield refused to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee with breast cancer and...more
A recent decision offers a not-so-friendly reminder to HR professionals and supervisory employees: you can be individually liable for FMLA violations if you review, approve, and correspond with employees regarding their FMLA...more
In Graziadio v. Culinary Institute of America, et al., 15-888-cv (2d. Cir. Mar. 17, 2016), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the...more
On December 4, 2015, the Texas Supreme Court provided significant guidance for employers by clarifying the relationship between the Texas Worker’s Compensation Act and the federal Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") in...more