You are about to enter another dimension. A journey into the world of discrimination and retaliation. Consider, if you will, the case of an employee who suspects that he or she is about to be fired or demoted for misconduct...more
9/6/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Demotions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Performance Reviews ,
Performance Standards ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Termination ,
Wage and Hour
You’ve got an employee who is an outspoken critic of your company’s equal employment policies or practices. He or she has violated your dress code by wearing anti-discrimination messages, fomented discontent amongst your...more
Chutzpah is a Yiddish word derived from the Aramaic ḥuṣpāh. It means impudence, gall, and an audacious disregard for rules. In the world of employment law, it can aptly describe employees who try to get what they want...more
3/12/2024
/ Back Pay ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
In August 2022 the National Labor Relations Board issued its decision in Tesla, Inc.,holding that an employer bears the burden of proving “special circumstances” if it “interferes in any way with its employees’ right to...more
12/12/2023
/ Dress Codes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Special Circumstances Doctrine ,
Tesla ,
UAW ,
Uniforms ,
Union Insignia ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
On September 25 a federal court in New York dismissed a lawsuit accusing an employer of failing to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs as a member of the “Temple of the Healing Spirits” located in “Deland city,...more
Hair. In some religions it is considered a sacred gift from God that should not be cut. In other religions, it must be styled, covered, or cut in particular ways. These religious practices may result in employees’ requesting...more
In the Broadway musical Pajama Game, based on the 1953 novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell, employees at the aptly named Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory want a pay increase of 7½ cents per hour.
(Like I said, the novel was written...more
In its recent en banc opinion in Hamilton v. Dallas County, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned nearly 30 years of precedent that required Title VII plaintiffs to allege that they had been subjected to...more
In 303 Creative v. Elenis, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Colorado could not take legal action against a graphic designer who refused to create custom wedding websites for same-sex marriages because of her religious...more
7/10/2023
/ 303 Creative LLC v Elenis ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
First Amendment ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
LGBTQ ,
Public Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
SCOTUS ,
Vendors ,
Website Design
Must an employer preserve business-related text messages between employees using their personal cell phones? Can a judge punish an employer for failing to do so? According to a federal judge in Texas, the answer to the first...more
Can the playing of rap music in the workplace create a sexually hostile environment? Can it do so even when both men and women are offended by the lyrics? In Sharp v. S&S Activewear, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth...more
At one time or another, one of your employees may have had a serious health condition resulting in multiple absences, followed by a release to return to work with restrictions that you believed prevented the employee from...more
A recent opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit provides good reason for employers to make a robust effort at maintaining and disseminating a policy against discrimination and harassment....more
Common sense suggests that once the discipline train has left the station an employee should not be able to derail it by filing a charge of discrimination or engaging in other protected activity. This concept is typically...more
With a shout-out to Shakespeare and a TV quiz show that ran in the mid-1950s and ended in scandal, this is a question that any business using independent contractors needs to answer. When adjusted for inflation and the...more
This year has come in like a lion and -- with the pandemic continuing, protesters still marching, and a presidential election looming -- it will not go out like a lamb. Issues ranging from systemic racism to wearing masks...more
As we have reported, a state court judge in California recently issued a Temporary Restraining Order prohibiting the reopening of a business until the employer complied with nearly one dozen COVID-19 safety-related...more
A group of employees in California recently went on strike to protest their employer’s refusal to close its business despite the employer’s alleged knowledge of a rising COVID-19 infection rate among employees and its failure...more