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Termination Employment Litigation Corporate Counsel

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

Fifth Circuit Finds That Employee Failed to Provide Adequate Notice of Needing FMLA Leave

On March 19, 2024, in Cerda v. Blue Cube Operations, LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment for an employer, finding that the employee’s acts of informing...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fifth Circuit Finds Employee's Protest of COVID-19 Measures Protected Concerted Activity

The National Labor Relations Act’s employee protections extend beyond unionized workplaces or those undergoing organizing activities. Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who...more

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

Deaf Ramp Agent’s Inability to Communicate With Others While Working Posed ‘Direct Threat’ to Employee Safety, Court Rules

SkyWest Airlines, Inc., was justified in discharging a deaf ramp agent because his inability to hear or effectively communicate posed a “direct threat” to the safety of himself and others, the U.S. District Court for the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Eleventh Circuit Holds FMLA Retaliation Requires “But-for” Showing

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Seyfarth Synopsis: The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision that “but-for” is the proper causation standard for FMLA retaliation claims addressed within the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Employee's PTSD Diagnosis May Excuse Violation of Disciplinary Policies

The Americans with Disabilities Act does not require employers to ignore or excuse serious violations of their rules of conduct. For example, an employee who brings a weapon to work in violation of the employer’s policy...more

Venable LLP

Responding to Mental Health Accommodation Requests

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Many employers have experienced an increase in employee requests for accommodations in the past few years. A federal jury’s recent award in Lisa Menninger v. PPD Development L.P. reminds employers that accommodation requests,...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Brain Tumor: A Little Too Little, Too Late — Sixth Circuit Addresses Late Disclosure of Disability

Employers sometimes face difficult decisions after learning of an employee’s disability. What if you learn of a disability after ongoing repeated employment deficiencies or even after a disciplinary or discharge decision...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Federal Court Rejects Claims by Employees Allegedly Fired for Wearing BLM Masks

In February 2021, we wrote about Kinzer, et al. v. Whole Foods Market, Inc., a case pending in Massachusetts federal court in which multiple employees alleged that they had been terminated by Whole Foods for wearing Black...more

Epstein Becker & Green

First Circuit Upholds Employer’s Win in Retaliation Suit

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On November 1, 2022, in Dusel v. Factory Mutual Ins. Co., the First Circuit Court of Appeals held that “close temporal proximity” alone does not establish pretext as this evidence “must be considered alongside the . . ....more

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

Seventh Circuit Ruling Reminds Courts Not to Draw ‘Narrow’ Comparisons in Title VII Cases

On October 26, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit handed employers another reminder of the potential benefits of consistent management. In Dunlevy v. Langfelder, the Seventh Circuit upheld the appeal...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Employer Justified in Terminating Employees Who Hosted Christmas Party During COVID-19

​​​​​​​During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers were understandably concerned that regardless of the measures taken to prevent workplace infections, employees could still place co-workers and third parties in...more

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

Fourth Circuit Reinstates Employee’s Claim That Social Media App Messages Provided Sufficient Notice of a Medical Absence

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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Above-Average Performance Reviews Counter Employer's Grounds for Termination

​​​​​​​“Grade inflation” is a well-known phenomenon in the academic sphere, where grade-point averages creep up over time despite the lack of performance-based reasons for the increase. Grade inflation can also be an issue...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Now I Know My CBDs – Louisiana Court Favors Employee Terminated for Failing Marijuana Test

This country’s relationship with cannabis is a complicated one, and as is often the case in complicated matters, words matter. Marijuana and hemp are different strains of the Cannabis sativa L plant. So, “cannabis” is a...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Reforms to Puerto Rican Labor Law Reinstate Employee-Friendly Measures

On June 20, 2022, Puerto Rico’s governor signed into law Act No. 41-2022 (“the Act”). The Act rolls back certain changes brought about by the Labor Transformation and Flexibility Act (“LTFA”). The LTFA was enacted in 2017 in...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Was There a Rainbow Connection? Arkansas Court Allows Religious Discrimination Case to Go Forward over Apron Symbol

Accommodating an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs can be tricky. In EEOC v. Kroger, a court in Arkansas gives some guidance on how to handle these claims. The case law surrounding religious failure-to-accommodate...more

Dickinson Wright

Yes, CBD Registers On a Drug Screen as THC and, Yes, You Can Be Terminated for It

Dickinson Wright on

There is a lot to unpack in the Lehenky v. Toshiba America Energy Systems Corporation, Case No. 20-4573 (E.D. PA, February 22, 2022) case as it answers two very interesting questions. First, does CBD register on a drug screen...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Unclear, Inconsistently Enforced Policy Supports Employee Discrimination Claim

Ballard Spahr LLP on

Summary Shortly after requesting an accommodation for his disability, an employee was terminated for violating company policy. But because the policy at issue was vague, ever-evolving, and inconsistently enforced, the Utah...more

Bennett Jones LLP

Ontario Superior Court on the Enforceability of Termination Provisions in Employment Agreements

Bennett Jones LLP on

A Question of Mixed Fact and Law - In a decision for which leave to appeal was denied by the Divisional Court, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently confirmed that a Rule 21 motion, seeking a determination of a...more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

Employee Terminations: Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Firing an employee can be much like breaking up with a significant other– stressful, messy, and awkward. No one wants to be the “bad guy,” and oftentimes it feels kinder to sugarcoat the facts rather than telling an employee...more

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Seventh Circuit Signs Off on Termination After FMLA Leave

An employer with documented evidence of performance issues before an employee took leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) did not run afoul of the statute when it terminated the employee upon her return, the...more

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

Notice Requirements Under the FMLA: Federal Court Reinforces Employees’ Obligations to Follow Established Notification Procedures

On June 17, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued an opinion and order in Munger v. Cascade Steel Rolling Mills, Inc., addressing an employee’s claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)...more

Saiber LLC

Court Upholds Employee’s Termination for Violating Employer’s Social Media Policy

Saiber LLC on

On March 4, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a decision of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania which ruled in Ellis v. Bank of New York Mellon Corp....more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Confirms Employers that Revoke Accepted Employment Offers May be Liable for Damages

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In Kim v. BT Express Freight Systems (2020), 317 A.C.W.S. (3d) 255, Ontario’s Superior Court confirmed that an employer may be liable for damages if it withdraws an accepted offer of employment or terminates employment...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Federal Appeals Court Holds Test For Illegal Drugs Is Not An Impermissible Medical Examination, Even If Test May Reveal Lawful...

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A federal appeals court upheld the termination of an employee who tested positive for amphetamines on a random drug test – despite his claim that the result was due to over-the-counter drug use – and rejected his arguments...more

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