I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. A recent decision involving the Family and Medical Leave Act should give employers much to be thankful for.
Our employee (we’ll call her “Patti”) managed telecommunications services...more
12/5/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Best Practices ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interference Claims ,
Notice Requirements ,
Performance Reviews ,
Retaliation ,
Risk Management ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination
EEOC allegations ring true.
The following is based only on the allegations in a lawsuit that was filed this week by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The employer hasn’t had a chance to give its side of the...more
11/21/2025
/ Absenteeism ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Termination ,
Third-Party ,
TPAs ,
Wrongful Termination
I’d call this “reasonable accommodation for dummies,” but y’all aren’t dumb. The feds are back in business, and I can confirm it because I had a live email exchange yesterday with an investigator from the Equal Employment...more
11/18/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Shutdown ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
He may hate the answer.
Chris Beattie, a founder of and bass player for the metalcore band Hatebreed, is suing over his dismissal from the band. According to his lawsuit, he was kicked out in November 2024 when a security...more
11/7/2025
/ At-Will Contracts ,
At-Will Employment ,
Breach of Contract ,
Business Litigation ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Emotional Distress Damages ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
False Accusations ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Negligence ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Partnership Agreements ,
Termination ,
Tortious Interference ,
Wrongful Termination
Today's case ought to be a horror for employers who don't post their job openings.
Yes, it's from the somewhat-employee-friendly U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, but when you read the opinion, you'll be...more
10/31/2025
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
Job Promotions ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wage and Hour
I have, unfortunately, seen a number of cases during my career that involved false allegations of sexual harassment made against an employee, usually a member of management. And usually male.
We didn’t always find out that...more
10/24/2025
/ Civil Liability ,
Defamation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
False Accusations ,
Harassment ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Workplace Investigations
This week in employment law.
Tons of stuff has been going on. Read all about it!
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Trump’s appointment of Republican Brittany Panuccio to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...more
10/10/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disparate Impact ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
And can you prove it?
As our readers know, the employer’s motivation is a key issue in an employment discrimination or retaliation case, or a wrongful discharge case....more
10/3/2025
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
After-Acquired Evidence ,
Age Discrimination ,
Burden of Proof ,
Burden-Shifting ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Performance Improvement Plans ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Pretext ,
Retaliation ,
Termination ,
Wrongful Termination
Five cautions for employers.
An employer’s motion for summary judgment in a lactation accommodation case was denied this week, meaning that if the case doesn’t settle, it will go to trial.
And be aware that everything in...more
9/19/2025
/ Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Title VII
Did I remember to mention "timing"?
Retaliation claims have been the hottest at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for many years. Part of that is because every law that the EEOC enforces has an...more
9/12/2025
/ ADEA ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Age Discrimination ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Appeals ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Protected Activity ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wage and Hour
A true story, somewhere.
You are Dilbert, the head of Human Resources for a fictional company that is not perfect but still a pretty decent place to work.
You have an employee, Dolores, who is more trouble than she’s...more
9/5/2025
/ At-Will Contracts ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
OSHA ,
Rescission ,
Resignation ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination
An intimate look.
No-fraternization policies generally prohibit employees with certain family or personal relationships from being in a direct or indirect reporting relationship.
Let’s say Mel is VP of Sales. His...more
8/29/2025
/ Anti-Fraternization Policies ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
Fraternization Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Managers ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance ,
Workplace Romances
Don't go off the deep end.
Alison Green of the Ask a Manager blog had a great column in Slate this week about over-zealous employer team-building activities. Here’s the intro: “You’re not leaving yet, are you? Team karaoke...more
8/22/2025
/ Age Discrimination ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Engagement ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Workers’ Compensation
Some good lessons here.
I assume our readers all know what a “constructive discharge” is, but just in case you don’t, it’s when an employer deliberately makes the employee’s life at work so miserable that the employee feels...more
8/15/2025
/ Appearance Policy ,
At-Will Contracts ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Dress Codes ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Work Commission ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hostile Environment ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Termination ,
Uniforms
Divine intervention?
John Kluge, a high school orchestra teacher in the Indianapolis area, was let go in 2018 after he refused to address transgender students by their preferred names and pronouns.
Mr. Kluge, a Christian...more
8/8/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Gender Identity ,
Good Faith ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Jury Trial ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
School Districts ,
SCOTUS ,
Title IX ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Undue Hardship
Hindsight is 20-20.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which took effect in June 2023, requires reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and “related medical conditions.” The statute gave authority to the U.S....more
8/1/2025
/ Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Wage and Hour
"Some harm" is all it takes.
A federal appeals court found this week that requiring an employee to enter an Employee Assistance Program may be an “adverse employment action” under the federal anti-discrimination laws....more
7/25/2025
/ Adverse Action ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Assistance Programs ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Termination
Accommodate, accommodate, accommodate!
I started practicing law two years before Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), and four years before it took effect (1992 for larger employers, 1994 for smaller...more
7/18/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Documentation ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Forced Leave of Absences ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Wage and Hour
"Reverse discrimination," ADA, religion, and nationwide injunctions. The 2024-25 term of the U.S. Supreme Court is over. Two decisions at the end of the term directly addressed employment law issues, and two others will have...more
7/3/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Ames v Ohio Department of Youth Services ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Injunctions ,
LGBTQ ,
Mahmoud v Taylor ,
Parental Rights ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Public Schools ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Stanley v City of Sanford Florida ,
Title VII ,
Trump v CASA
In 2022, a company’s Chief Technical Officer started making internal complaints about alleged sex discrimination and retaliation at his place of employment and advocating for some female executives who were allegedly not...more
6/27/2025
/ CEOs ,
Defamation ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Popular ,
Retaliation ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
Happy Father's Day weekend, y'all!
How much do you know about dads in the workplace in our modern era? Take our quiz and find out!
Since today is Friday the 13th, I’m going to make this quiz a hard one. But, as always, the...more
6/13/2025
/ Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Paid Leave ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sex Discrimination
Don't quit your current job!
Bloomberg Law had a good article yesterday by Jo Constantz about AI-conducted job interviews. (Paid subscription may be required to access.) According to the article, many companies are now...more
5/30/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Automated Decision Systems (ADS) ,
Bots ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Interviews ,
Job Applicants ,
Legal Technology ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Machine Learning ,
Wage and Hour
Don't expect the EEOC to appeal.
In April 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The Enforcement Guidance addressed, among other things, harassment...more
5/23/2025
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration ,
Trump v Wilcox
Dad-of-seven will go to jury on religious discrimination.
This sounds like the kind of thing that might happen to a woman, but this time it (allegedly) happened to a man.
A devout Catholic man (we'll call him "Dad") was...more
TL;DR: Some big changes.
On Tuesday, the Trump Administration nominated Brittany Bull Panuccio to the spot on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that has been vacant since Keith Sonderling’s term expired last...more
5/9/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Gender Identity ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Quorum ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title IX ,
Trump Administration