DE Under 3: Vaccine Mandates & More
The Transformation of Education in Florida
School District Update Podcast: Hiring H-1B Teachers in 2021-2022
They Said What? First Amendment Issues in 2020
COVID School Landscape
Leadership in the Time of COVID
BLACK HISTORY MONTH | ELLA BAKER & MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a number of federal court decisions involving disability discrimination claims from teachers who requested full-time remote work as an accommodation for compromised immune systems or other...more
On December 5, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that emeritus status does not necessarily create a constitutionally protected property interest. Peterson v Johnson, _F.4th_, 2023 WL 8431635 (for...more
Last month, we reported a First Circuit Court of Appeals decision that rejected an Americans with Disabilities Act claim brought by a teacher who was denied an extended leave of absence for recovery from surgery. The court...more
On November 7, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts’ dismissal of a teacher’s suit against her former employer, Austin...more
In last week’s EmployNews, we discussed a growing trend of employees basing requests for remote work on mental or physical disabilities, and therefore requesting accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In...more
In a July 28, 2023 ruling, the Seventh Circuit has signaled that Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) seeking to enforce pronoun policies can expect to face increased scrutiny. Specifically, the Seventh Circuit vacated its...more
Religious schools in New Jersey that make employment decisions based on the tenets of their faith just received a favorable ruling from the state’s highest court last week. The case involves an unmarried Catholic school...more
Rebecca Cartee-Haring v. Central Bucks School District, Civil Action No. 20-1995 (E.D. Pa. 8/24/22) (A federal court grants certification of a collective action by female teachers pursuing an Equal Pay Act claim for...more
A group of female teachers in Pennsylvania were recently given the green light by a federal court judge to proceed with their wage bias lawsuit as a collective action, which should provide schools across the country incentive...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
A tenured professor at Erskine College in Due West claimed the institution breached its employment contract with him as set forth in the faculty manual. The trial court overruled the jury verdict in the professor’s favor, but...more
On Tuesday, May 12, 2020, the Ninth Circuit heard oral argument in Freyd v. University of Oregon. Jennifer Freyd, a professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon, filed a class action lawsuit in March 2017 alleging...more
All employers should care about their employees’ mental health – but when does this concern put an employer in territory that may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? In López-López v. The Robinson School, the...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
Vladimirsky v. School Dist. of Phila., 206 A. 3d 1224 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2019). The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court overturned a finding of the Pennsylvania Department of Education that teacher did not exercise reasonable due...more
Decisions on reductions in force in school districts are not common in Illinois, so a recent opinion from the Fourth District Appellate Court warrants brief mention. The issue in a recent case, Nafziger v. Board of Education...more
Last month, the Illinois Supreme Court granted a petition for leave to appeal the Illinois Appellate Court’s decision in Dynak v. Board of Education of Wooddale School District 7, 2019 IL App (2d) 180551, which held that a...more
The need to consider Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations can happen at any time during the employment relationship. Generally, an employee will ask for an accommodation before problems with performance...more
In its 2012 Hosanna-Tabor decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a “ministerial exemption” to employment claims brought under Title VII and the ADA. The exception allows religious employers to make what otherwise would...more