If an individual’s disability causes involuntary racist or profane utterances, what would a reasonable accommodation under the ADA look like? In Cooper v. Dolgencorp, LLC, the Sixth Circuit faced just such an inquiry....more
Changes in supervision may result in fresh ways of doing things. Certain rules that were never fully enforced may now come to the forefront. Can a new supervisor’s radical change in a long-term employee’s performance rating...more
Can you require your workers to arbitrate claims? What if they work in interstate commerce? Recently several courts have addressed the scope of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and when it applies to arbitration agreements...more
An employer establishes a weekend work policy where only male employees can take both days off, and female employees can only take one weekend day off. Sounds like gender discrimination maybe? Well, in Hamilton, et al. v....more
Accommodating an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs can be tricky. In EEOC v. Kroger, a court in Arkansas gives some guidance on how to handle these claims. The case law surrounding religious failure-to-accommodate...more
6/28/2022
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Kroger ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Termination
If a letter from the EEOC is in your virtual mailbox but you never open it, have you received it? Most of us are familiar with the requirement that a claimant who files an EEOC charge has 90 days to file a lawsuit after...more
With Delta variant infections on the rise, the Biden administration recently announced that “every federal government employee and onsite contractor will be asked to attest to their vaccination status,” and that anyone who...more
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor unveiled a new program, “Essential Workers—Essential Protections,” that focuses on making sure employers comply with overtime and other wage requirements for workers on...more
Retaliation claims in employment litigation have been on the rise for years. The typical scenario has an employee reporting some sort of alleged discriminatory act, either against them or a coworker, followed by the employer...more
In hiring employees, can you just give them a salary bump or must you look at their soon-to-be coworkers to decide the correct amount? This is a hotly debated issue right now, and, as with many things, it depends on where you...more
The Department of Labor recently issued a final rule about how to calculate an employee’s regular rate of pay for overtime purposes under the Fair Labor Standards Act. As everyone knows, under the FLSA you have to pay...more
1/13/2020
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Rules ,
Over-Time ,
Rate of Pay ,
Wage and Hour
Sometimes employment laws can make the common person’s head spin. That certainly could be the case for a recent Fifth Circuit opinion examining the “highly compensated” regulatory exemption from the overtime requirements of...more
9/5/2019
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Not all requests for accommodation or FMLA leave will fit into neat boxes like “pregnancy” or “knee surgery.” Because the ADA definition of a disability includes any impairment that affects a major life function, employers...more
1/7/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interactive Process ,
Leave of Absence ,
Mental Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Traveling Employee
Employment lawyers and most HR professionals are familiar with the Faragher-Ellerth defense to a claim of sexual harassment. In short, if an employer can show that (1) it exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct...more
9/13/2018
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Appeals ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Failure to Report ,
Faragher/Ellerth defense ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hostile Environment ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII
When do you have to pay an employee before a shift? In Llorca v. Sheriff (Collier County, Florida), the Eleventh Circuit waded into the rich history of what types of pre-shift activities might qualify for hourly compensation....more
In a battle between a mentally ill employee seeking accommodation for his job at a nuclear plant and federal nuclear safety codes—-which wins out? The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ended up going with safety codes....more
The 7th Circuit, in a short opinion issued April 6, zapped a plaintiff’s claim that he was terminated in violation of the ADA based on his condition of being overexposed to electromagnetic voltage at his job. Mr. Hirmiz, a...more
Is there a difference between being discriminated against because of your sexual orientation versus being discriminated against for not conforming to a gender stereotype? In most areas of the country, there most certainly is...more
When does workplace hugging go too far? The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently weighed in with an opinion. Victoria Zetwick, a county correctional officer, based her Title VII hostile work environment suit almost...more
When is a “joke” so not funny that you lose your job? The Mississippi Court of Appeals gave some direction on that question, affirming the City of Meridian’s termination of a police officer for an inappropriate (arguably...more
12/9/2016
/ Code of Conduct ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Facebook ,
First Amendment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Police ,
Political Speech ,
Public Comment ,
Public Concern ,
Public Employees ,
Racial Bias ,
Social Media
Last week the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a case the EEOC filed over a job applicant’s short dreadlocks. In 2010, Chastity Jones, an African American, applied for a position with...more
9/20/2016
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discrimination ,
Dismissals ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Ethnicity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Race Discrimination ,
Title VII
In a 100+ page opinion, federal Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero of the Northern District of California refused to grant the Plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class of minor league baseball players and instead granted the baseball...more
Is cuteness a protected class? Most of our mothers would say it should be. However, a recent decision in New York found a woman could not bring suit against her former employer based on her allegation that she was terminated...more
Can an employer have different physical fitness standards for men and women without running afoul of Title VII? Yes, according to the Fourth Circuit that ruled that the FBI could reject a male agent candidate who failed his...more