News & Analysis as of

Public Policy Employer Liability Issues

Mandelbaum Barrett PC

New Jersey Supreme Court Invalidates Non-Disparagement Provision Against Alleged Victim of Discrimination and Harassment

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In Savage v. Township of Neptune, et al., (A-2-23, decided May 7, 2024), the New Jersey Supreme Court analyzed and invalidated a non-disparagement provision included in a settlement agreement against a plaintiff alleging...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Finds Internal Complaint About Care Recommendations Supports Wrongful Discharge Claim

North Carolina is an at-will employment state, but recognizes a limited exception from that rule for terminations that violate the state’s public policy. Courts have wrestled for years over the meaning of public policy and...more

Miller Canfield

Michigan Supreme Court Expands Employer Exposure to Public Policy Retaliation Claims

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In Michigan, various state employment laws prohibit employers from retaliating against employees. But can an employee pursue a public policy retaliation claim against the employer in addition to a statutory retaliation claim?...more

Saiber LLC

New Jersey Supreme Court Holds That Non-Disparagement Provisions Seeking to Preclude Discussion About Claims of Discrimination,...

Saiber LLC on

In a recent unanimous decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that non-disparagement provisions in settlement agreements or employment agreements are against public policy and unenforceable if they seek to bar speech...more

Holland & Knight LLP

California's New Nationwide Focus on Noncompetition Agreements

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For decades, California has taken arguably the most pro-employee-mobility position on noncompetition and non-solicitation agreements in the country – generally, post-employment noncompetition and non-solicitation agreements...more

Harris Beach PLLC

California Holds Employers Have No Duty to Protect Employees’ Households from COVID-19

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The California Supreme Court has answered in the negative the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ certified question regarding “take-home” COVID-19 exposure (see Federal Appeals Court Asks California If Covid-19 “Take Home” Suits...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

The Doctrine of “Wrongful Discharge in Violation of Public Policy” Takes Flight Again in Decision of the Connecticut Supreme Court

On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, the Connecticut Supreme Court announced a significant new decision concerning lawsuits by employees alleging “wrongful discharge in violation of public policy.”  Most employers in Connecticut are...more

Bodman

Employers Beware! Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies and Expands Public-Policy Exception to At-Will Employment Presumption

Bodman on

On July 15, 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court clarified and, arguably, expanded the public-policy exception to the well-established at-will employment presumption in Michigan. Although the case may conclude differently after...more

ArentFox Schiff

Working at Home: California Court Holds Employer Not Liable For Injuries

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California law generally requires employers to provide employees with a safe place to work. What, if anything, does this obligation entail when an employee works at home or another employee visits that private residence for...more

McAfee & Taft

Home Depot employee’s wrongful discharge claim hammered

McAfee & Taft on

Under some circumstances, Oklahoma law recognizes that terminated employees may pursue a public policy wrongful discharge claim against a former employer. These claims allow a narrow exception to the employment at-will status...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Adds New Personnel Records Wrinkle to Public Policy Exception to Termination of At-Will...

A recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the “SJC”) significantly expanded the Massachusetts common-law public policy exception to termination of at-will employees.  This decision, Meehan v. Med. Info....more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Can Discharging Remote Workers Trigger the WARN Act at a ‘Single Site of Employment’?

To say that COVID-19 has presented numerous challenges to employers would certainly be an understatement. One of the changes and challenges that has entered the workforce is the proliferation of work-from-home arrangements. ...more

Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Finds that Employees Cannot be Terminated Merely for Filing a Rebuttal to a Personnel Record

On December 17, 2021, Meehan v. Medical Information Technology, Inc., the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (“SJC”) held that an employee’s filing a rebuttal to information placed in their personnel file that could...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules in Favor of Worker Fired for Rebutting Negative Performance Improvement Plan

On December 17, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that an employee discharged for submitting a written rebuttal to his employer in response to the placement of negative information in his personnel...more

Conn Kavanaugh

Employers Beware: M.G.L c. 149, § 52C Right to Rebut Trumps At-Will Employment

Conn Kavanaugh on

Massachusetts law gives employees the right to submit a written statement explaining the employee’s position when the employee disagrees with any information contained in the employee’s personnel record. This written...more

Littler

Pennsylvania Appeals Court Determines State’s Medical Marijuana Act Includes a Private Right of Action for Employees

Littler on

In a case of first impression, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania has determined that employees can sue their employers for claims under the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (MMA).  Palmiter v. Commonwealth Health Sys.,...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Pennsylvania Court Holds Medical Marijuana Act Allows Employees to Sue for Discrimination

On August 5, 2021, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held for the first time that Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act (MMA) allows an employee to sue his or her employer for taking an adverse employment action based on the...more

Miller Canfield

6th Circuit Clarifies Opposition Clause of Title VII - Performance of Regular Job Duties as Protected Activity

Miller Canfield on

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits retaliation against employees because they either oppose discriminatory actions (the "Opposition Clause") or because of their participation in an investigation, proceeding, or...more

Ward and Smith, P.A.

So Much for "9 to 5": Employers' Consideration of Employees' and Applicants' Conduct Outside of Work

Ward and Smith, P.A. on

Arbitrary judgments are as old as humanity itself. Law evolved in part to try to spare us all from some of them and provide order and predictability in their place. That evolution, and occasional revolution, eventually gave...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

$10 Million Lawsuit over January 6th Capitol Riot-Related Firing

On January 26, 2021, a computer programmer and coder named Leah Snyder filed a lawsuit against her former employer (Snyder v. Alight Solutions LLC (8:21-cv-00187)), alleging she was wrongfully terminated after she posted...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Massachusetts Appeals Court Weighs In On Public Policy Exception To General At-Will Employee Termination Clause

The Massachusetts Appeals Court, in a slip op opinion issued on January 20, 2021, decided that at-will employees can be terminated for submitting rebuttal letters pursuant to G.L.c. 149, §52C (“Section 52C”), and cannot avail...more

Ruder Ware

Emergency Use Authorization Vaccines – A Caution to Employers

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Happy New Year! As we move into 2021, we know that many of you are considering whether to require employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination. The current COVID-19 vaccines have received Emergency Use Authorization (“EUA”)...more

ArentFox Schiff

Enforcing Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation Provisions in Virginia: Three Recent Takeaways From a Virginia Trial Court

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In a recent opinion, the Fairfax Circuit Court deemed unenforceable the non-compete and employee non-solicitation provisions of two doctors who had performed work for the United States Army on behalf of a government...more

FordHarrison

Perhaps Silicon Valley’s Pied Piper Could Use Good Employment Counsel

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I am currently bingeing my way through HBO’s Silicon Valley after not having watched the show for several years (I’ve always found it entertaining enough, but life, you know?). The series chronicles the experiences of a small...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Pennsylvania Court Allows Medical Pot User To Proceed With Wrongful Termination Suit

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In a recent decision, Palmiter v. Commonwealth Health Systems, the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas held that: (a) the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (“MMA”) creates a private right of action for wrongful termination;...more

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