The Chartwell Chronicles: Employment Law
Managing the Size and Structure of Your Post-Pandemic Workforce
#WorkforceWednesday: OSHA ETS on Hold, Retaliation Claims Increase, "Vaccination Ambassadors" - Employment Law This Week®
The Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) recently held that an employee may be awarded aggravated damages for an employer’s bad-faith conduct during the employee’s dismissal even in the absence of medical evidence identifying a...more
This month’s Friday Five explores a decision ordering an IME prior to a ruling on summary judgment motions, the extent claims reporting records can be sealed, the scope of ERISA preemption in the context of removal, and two...more
There's a new sheriff in town . . . . . . so y'all better straighten up. You probably know by now that the Biden Administration fired Sharon Fast Gustafson, the Trump-appointed General Counsel of the Equal Employment...more
Glynn v. Superior Court, 42 Cal. App. 5th 47 (2019) - John Glynn worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative before he commenced a medical leave of absence for a serious eye condition (myopic macular degeneration)....more
Carroll v. City & Cnty. of S.F., 41 Cal. App. 5th 805, 254 Cal. Rptr. 3d 519 (2019) - Summary: Each alleged reduction of monthly disability retirement benefit payments for discriminatory reasons was continuing violation...more
Employee With Disabilities Denied a Reasonable Accommodation and Discharged After Seeking Two Days of Unpaid Leave, Federal Agency Charges - ATLANTA - American Woodmark Corporation, a wood cabinetry manufacturer, will pay...more
Under the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), employers are required to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave to employees with certain family or medical issues. These issues include attending to serious health conditions that make...more
At-will employment is the normal employer-employee relationship in South Carolina. In 2004, the state legislature passed a law stating that handbooks that took certain reasonable steps did not create a contractual exception...more
Last year, we reported a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision establishing a rule that leave of more than a few weeks in duration falls outside employers’ reasonable accommodation obligations under the Americans with...more
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc., leaving in place dismissal of an employee’s Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”)...more
Here’s a puzzle for you. How would you handle it? Mary Beth is a nurse for a local hospital and has been diagnosed with cancer and asthma. 1. She is certified for FMLA leave for her cancer and asthma; 2. She incurs...more
Ghosts, ghouls, and ghastly liability; the last is certainly enough to spook any employer. For this Halloween, we take a trip down Elm Street to revisit the most startling nightmares we’ve ever covered....more
Employers everywhere have been repeatedly warned not to automatically terminate employees who have exhausted their Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. Instead, employers should first consider whether the employee might...more
Employee with Ovarian Cancer Denied Leave and Fired, Federal Agency Charged - LAS VEGAS - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against the Wynn Las Vegas hotel/casino for violating...more
Handling workers’ compensation claims can present a number of challenges, such as determining whether an injury is work-related and evaluating back-to-work accommodation requests. Another challenge arises when you consider...more
On March 15, 2017, in Moss v. Harris County Constable Precinct One, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed that an employer is not required to accommodate an employee who is requesting indefinite leave as a reasonable...more
In light of evidence that younger employees committed similar infractions as the plaintiff, and did not suffer significant disciplinary action, an Illinois federal district court denied an employer’s summary judgment motion....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
In a relatively recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit (whose rulings apply to all South Carolina employers) found that an employer's faulty notice to an employee about his rights under the Family and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an ADA action regarding disability discrimination, the Fifth Circuit reversed a District Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the employer and against the EEOC, noting that even though the...more
When an employee brings a lawsuit alleging that his employer retaliated or discriminated against him, courts typically assess the claim by using a burden-shifting approach. Under this approach, after the employer offers a...more
Hair Salon Refused to Accommodate Stylist's Claustrophobia, Agency Charged - MIDLAND, Texas - Minnesota-based Regis Corporation, doing business as SmartStyle, will pay $60,000 in damages and back pay to former hair...more
California Considers Extending Fair Pay Act to Race, Ethnicity - Why it matters - Reflecting the nationwide trend of pay equity, a new bill under consideration by California legislators would extend the state's Fair...more
Employee Who Needed To Assist Disabled Son Could Proceed With "Associational Disability Discrimination" Claim - Castro-Ramirez v. Dependable Highway Express, Inc., 246 Cal. App. 4th 180 (2016) - Luis...more
It’s been awhile since Oklahoma’s Supreme Court weighed in on the ability of fired employees to sue their employers for wrongful discharge. Now a vomiting nurse gets to take a shot at the nursing center that terminated his...more