[Editor’s Note (01/14/22): In a 6-3 ruling, on January 14, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Sixth’s Circuit’s ruling described below, and thereby re-imposed an injunction preventing OSHA from enforcing its Emergency...more
On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark 6-3 decision in a trio of linked cases (Altitude Express v. Zarda, Bostock v. Clayton County and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity...more
6/18/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Apple Inc. recently convinced a California federal district court to dismiss a certified class action alleging that Apple had a legal duty to pay store workers for time spent on bag checks at the end of shifts....more
Bag Checks for Apple Employees Not Compensable Time -
Apple Inc. recently convinced a California federal district court to dismiss a certified class action alleging that Apple had a legal duty to pay store workers for...more
12/22/2015
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Class Members ,
Compensation ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Legal Ethics ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wage and Hour
Legislative Update -
Governor Brown recently signed into state law the following employment law bills (among others):
SB 358—Referred to as the California Fair Pay Act, this law is directed at closing the pay...more
10/26/2015
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
AT&T Mobility v Concepcion ,
Background Checks ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Class Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employment Application ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Pay Act ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Governor Brown ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Code ,
Misclassification ,
Motion to Compel ,
New Legislation ,
Over-Time ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remand ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantially Similar ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Void and Unenforceable ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Statements ,
Waivers ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wrongful Termination
Federal anti-discrimination laws (“Title VII”) prohibit an employer from refusing to hire a candidate to avoid accommodating a suspected, but unconfirmed religious practice, according to a recent United States Supreme Court...more
6/26/2015
/ Abercrombie & Fitch ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Dress Codes ,
EEOC v Abercrombie ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Clothing ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII
Employer’s Motive, Not Confirmed Knowledge Of Accommodation Need, Is Basis Of Religious Accommodation Violation -
Federal anti-discrimination laws (“Title VII”) prohibit an employer from refusing to hire a candidate to...more
6/24/2015
/ Abercrombie & Fitch ,
Ban the Box ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dress Codes ,
EEOC v Abercrombie ,
Employee Restrooms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Joint Employers ,
Misclassification ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Clothing ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Wage and Hour
The United States Supreme Court recently held in Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk et al. that time spent waiting for and undergoing post-shift security checks is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
Waiting for and Undergoing Security Checks Not Compensable Time -
The United States Supreme Court recently held in Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk et al. that time spent waiting for and undergoing post-shift...more
1/13/2015
/ Cell Phones ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Integrity Staffing v Busk ,
Labor Code ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Reimbursements ,
SCOTUS ,
Security Checks ,
Sick Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
Finding severance payments to be a form of “remuneration for employment,” the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Quality Stores, Inc. held that such payments are taxable wages – and thus subject to withholding –...more
Supreme Court Confirms FICA Taxes Must be Withheld from Severance Payments -
Finding severance payments to be a form of “remuneration for employment,” the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Quality Stores,...more
4/22/2014
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
FEHA ,
FICA Taxes ,
Harassment ,
Hills and Dales ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRB ,
Posting Requirements ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Severance Pay ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Title VII ,
Wages ,
Whistleblowers
In U.S. v. Windsor, the court struck down a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) as unconstitutional. DOMA, for purposes of federal tax and benefits laws, defined marriage as only between “one man and one...more
In American Express Company v. Italian Colors Restaurant, a non-employment case, the Supreme Court enforced a class action waiver in an American Express (“AMEX”) arbitration agreement despite a restaurant’s objection that the...more
In another favorable ruling for employers, the Supreme Court in University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar clarified that employees must satisfy a higher “but for” standard of proof to prevail in a Title VII...more
7/24/2013
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
But For Causation ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Harassment ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Supervisors ,
Title VII ,
UT Southwestern Medical v Nassar
In a favorable decision for employers, the U.S. Supreme Court in Vance v. Ball State University ruled that employers are strictly liable for harassment by a supervisor where the supervisor is empowered to take tangible...more
7/22/2013
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Delays ,
DOMA ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
FEHA ,
Harassment ,
Proposition 8 ,
Retaliation ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Supervisors ,
Title VII ,
US v Windsor ,
Vance v. Ball State University ,
Vicarious Liability
The NLRB's controversial requirement that employers post notices informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (as reported in our January and May 2012 FEBs) has been held unconstitutional by the...more
5/15/2013
/ Age Discrimination ,
Criminal Sanctions ,
Discrimination ,
Hackers ,
Jury Awards ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
Notice Requirements ,
Posting Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
Social Media Policy ,
Title VII ,
Unconscionable Contracts