Employers, don't be too rigid about employee notice requirements. Weird case from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Imagine this: You're the HR manager at a manufacturing facility. An hourly employee has...more
On August 15, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held in Roberts v. Gestamp West Virginia, LLC, that an employer’s “usual and customary” notice procedures relating to absences extended beyond the company’s...more
Just a little more than six weeks ago, both political and business leaders in our country were looking for options to help employers and employees deal with the dramatic impact the COVID-19 pandemic was having and would have...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In affirming summary judgment in favor of the defendant in an Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) interference and retaliation case, the Fifth Circuit reinforced the importance of documenting performance...more
Employees who take FMLA leave may be required to comply with the employer’s usual and customary notice and procedural requirements for requesting leave. If the employee does not follow these requirements, the employer may...more
The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently overturned a longstanding line of cases that allowed disabled employees to prevail in discrimination cases without proving the employer intended to discriminate or was even aware that the...more
Many times, timing is everything (or nearly so). For example, in Dighello v. Thurston Foods, Inc. (and unlike the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling in Bailey v. Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., about which we recently wrote), the trial...more
Legalized Drug Use Impacts the Food and Beverage Industry - In the November 2016 general election, voters in Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota amended their state constitutions to authorize the use of marijuana for...more
Obesity is still a hot topic both in our health conscious culture and in our courtrooms where we continue to see ADAAA claims based on the notion that an employer fired an employee because the employee was obese. After the...more
A signature block in a contract seems like a small thing, but sometimes it can lead to litigation. When an officer signs a contract, is he signing solely as agent for the corporation or might he also be signing in his...more
Continuing our three-part series on managing FMLA fraud, this post addresses the importance of conducting a reasonable investigation, prior to taking adverse action, to develop a supportable “honest belief” of FMLA fraud. ...more
In some situations, employees taking Family and Medical Leave were on shaky grounds with regard to their continuing employment prior to the absence. The employer then moves to terminate the employee either while he remains on...more
To state a claim of interference under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), an employee must show that his or her employer denied benefits to which the employee was entitled under the FMLA. For example, an employee might...more