Employer's DEI mandate scores a win. A white guy refused to take his employer's mandatory "unconscious bias" training, and he was fired. He sued the employer for retaliation, his lawsuit was dismissed, and this week an...more
As readers of this Blog know, we often write about the pleading requirements under the Civil Practice Law and Rules (“CPLR”). In that regard, many of our articles involve cases in which CPLR 3016(b) is at issue – the...more
On November 13, 2023, in USA ex rel, Morgan-Lee, et al. v. The Whittier Health Network, LLC, et al., a Massachusetts federal district judge concluded that although the plaintiff engaged in protected activity when she raised...more
Noting the employer did not have an employee code of conduct policy prohibiting the use of derogatory language, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held an automotive dealership violated the National Labor Relations Act...more
Navigating the unemployment benefit administrative process under the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act can be difficult for employers. The act limits the type of conduct that may disqualify a claimant from receiving...more
As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more readily available, employers are considering mandatory vaccination for their employees and in particular, how to respond to employee requests for accommodation, whether on the basis of...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) incorrectly found an employee invoked Weingarten rights and misapplied the Wright Line burden-shifting framework in finding an employee was unlawfully terminated, the federal appeals...more
Informed employers know they must pay non-exempt employee for all hours actually worked. If an employee works unapproved hours or overtime, the company must still pay for that time; however, they may discipline that worker...more
In a recent decision, the Appellate Court of Illinois rejected a school board’s decision to terminate a tenured teacher for misconduct despite a hearing officer’s finding that there was insufficient evidence of cause for...more
Employers, you see this movie all too often. You tolerate, and then ultimately discharge, a poor-performing employee who displays a bad attitude. Unfortunately, supervisors have not documented the employee’s prior instances...more
As a manager, you’re trained to identify discrimination and harassment when you see it. You see it when a manager in another department isn’t being fair to subordinates of another race. You’re familiar with your obligations...more
On February 8, 2019, the Fourth Circuit ruled an employer can be liable for gender discrimination for spreading false rumors that a female employee slept with her male boss to obtain a promotion. Parker v. Reema Consulting...more
The recent case of Carroll v. Comprehensive Women’s Health illustrates the importance of circumstances and perception when terminating a “sympathetic” employee. Indeed the opinion reads like a case study of facts and...more
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in to support the NLRB’s finding that an employee’s profanity-ridden social media posting about his employer (and his employer’s mother) was not so offensive that it went beyond the...more
On September 28, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) held that the recording of workplace conversations can be protected whistleblower activity under the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974...more
Recently, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) with the National Labor Relations Board found that an employer violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it discharged an employee for informing a co-worker that the...more
Justizminister Heiko Maas (SPD) hat im Streit gegen den Internetblog „Netzpolitik.org“ den Generalbundesanwalt Harald Range entlassen. Aufgrund schwerer Anschuldigungen seitens des Generalbundesanwalts sei das...more
Unemployment compensation is a form of social insurance. Workers who lose their jobs receive benefits – which are less than they earned when employed – to provide a level of income while transitioning to the next job. ...more
The exact limits of employee protected speech on social media are still finding definition, but a recent National Labor Relations Board decision identifies at least one limit: premeditated insubordination. In Richmond...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finally found a Facebook conversation it couldn’t bring itself to “Like.” In Richmond District Neighborhood Center, Case 20-CA-091748 (October 28, 2014), the NLRB held that a Facebook...more
An administrative law judge (ALJ) of the National Labor Relations Board (the "Board") recently found that a Hooters employee who cursed at her co-worker during an employee bikini contest was wrongfully terminated by her...more
[Ed. Note: We know we’re a little late to the party with this one, but we just read the decision and had to share it for anyone else who has been in a news blackout for the past couple weeks.] You’d think that an...more
Several weeks ago, in both a tongue-in-cheek and concerned fashioned, we wrote about a federal court decision that concluded an employer had to tolerate an employee’s admitted theft as a reasonable accommodation for her...more
In a legal environment where employers often feel the deck is stacked against them, it is good to know that Florida courts will support employers who do not discriminate, when they need to terminate an insubordinate employee....more
The ARB recently affirmed an ALJ’s decision that American Commercial Lines Inc. (the “Company”) did not violate the whistleblower protection provision in Section 806 of SOX where the Company demonstrated by clear and...more