Social media has truly changed our world, both in and outside of the workplace. It has evolved into a daily habit for many of us; the way we get news about the world and our friends, the way we shop, gossip, and much more. It...more
8/12/2024
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media ,
Social Media Policy ,
Social Networks ,
Title VII
In recent years, state #MeToo laws have slowly but surely chipped away at the use of confidentiality or non-disclosure clauses in settlement agreements. Employers have attempted to get “creative” and have relied more heavily...more
A U.S. Supreme Court with a conservative majority is still capable of surprising us. In Muldrow v. St. Louis, the Court lightened the burden on employment discrimination plaintiffs by lowering the legal ‘bar’ for an employee...more
The Legal Landscape -
As we reviewed in earlier posts, the Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA) promised to be a game changer not just...more
In a move that may have gone under the radar given recent world events, Governor Hochul recently signed S.B. 5572, legislation amending Article 6 of the New York Labor Law (NYLL), limiting the exemption status and expanding...more
It has been less than a month since the Supreme Court’s June 29 decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA), and the decision is already creating controversy....more
7/28/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
College Admissions ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina
On June 29, 2023, amid a flurry of other newsworthy opinions, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Groff v. DeJoy, modifying the legal standard which courts now must use to determine when an employer has to grant a...more
7/13/2023
/ Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS
For New York employers, the standards for sexual harassment may be shifting. The state requires all employers to adopt its model sex harassment policy or craft one that equals or exceeds minimum standards. Recently, the New...more
For New York employers, the standards for sexual harassment may be shifting. The state requires all employers to adopt its model sex harassment policy or craft one that equals or exceeds minimum standards. Recently, the New...more
2023 is in full swing. While everyone is abuzz about ChatGPT taking over the world, a newly divided Congress is finding its sea legs and state capitols are eyeing new regulations. Agencies and courts have taken up hot-button...more
4/3/2023
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Pay Transparency ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Wage and Hour
In a notable victory for the #MeToo movement, President Biden recently signed the “Speak Out Act” into law. It became effective December 7, 2022.
This bipartisan legislation targets and effectively prohibits the use of...more
The Great Resignation of 2021 and 2022 has spawned what we are calling “The Great Rehire.” To sort through the deluge of new applicants, many employers have become more reliant on technology such as artificial intelligence...more
As of May 7, 2022, new amendments to the New York Civil Rights Law (linked here) requiring New York employers to provide notice of electronic monitoring to employees went into effect. If your company has not already taken...more
President Biden just signed into law the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021,” known informally as the “Me Too” law. It becomes effective immediately, and amends the Federal...more
In a move that comes as no surprise, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has updated its COVID-19 technical assistance to provide guidance on when COVID-19 may be considered a “disability” under the Americans...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued two opinions on COVID regulations impacting employers and workers across the country. In the first, the Court stayed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) “vaccine or...more
3/3/2022
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The start of a new year is the time for annual retrospectives, predictions, and promises to get back into the gym. Although we can’t help with that last one, we wanted to take this opportunity to offer our own analysis on the...more
Generally speaking, most healthcare employers would not think that their employed physicians are at risk for unionization. As opposed to interns and residents, who have experienced their own unionization push in the past...more
Judge Thomas Rademaker, a New York State Supreme Court Judge in Nassau County, yesterday issued an order striking down the statewide mask mandate issued by the Department of Health in December, which requires that all state...more
Last week, the Supreme Court issued two opinions on COVID regulations impacting employers and workers across the country.
• In the first, the Court stayed OSHA’s “vaccine or test” mandate for employers with 100 or more...more
1/19/2022
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
UPDATE: December 17, 2021 -
In a move that comes as no surprise, the EEOC has updated its COVID-19 technical assistance to provide guidance on when COVID-19 may be considered a “disability” under the ADA, making specific...more
In a one-line ruling on Monday, December 13, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the last of the legal challenges to the vaccine mandate for health care workers in New York. It also dismissed a challenge to a similar...more
In September, as the Delta variant was sweeping the nation, President Biden announced a comprehensive national strategy to get more Americans vaccinated and to set the path out of the pandemic. As part of this plan, the...more
Employers implementing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination programs are no doubt starting to feel the pressure resulting from an influx of religious and disability accommodation requests. In all the internal commotion (and...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the serious threat posed by unchecked airborne infectious diseases, and has prompted New York to pass the Health and Essential Rights Act (aka the “HERO Act”), which serves to establish...more