The Chartwell Chronicles: Employment Law
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#WorkforceWednesday: OSHA ETS on Hold, Retaliation Claims Increase, "Vaccination Ambassadors" - Employment Law This Week®
The Fourth Circuit recently reaffirmed that not all forms of opposition constitute protected activity. In Bills v. WVNH EMP, LLC, the Fourth Circuit unanimously affirmed the Southern District of West Virginia’s Order...more
The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (“MCAD” or “Commission”) has released its Fiscal Year 2023 (“FY23”) Annual Report, which highlights the strides the Commission has made over the last fiscal year toward...more
In Acuff v. Dy N Fly, LLC, four female plaintiffs sued a franchisor of hair salons (Dy N Fly), two of its franchisees, and the owner of the two franchisees for wrongful retaliatory termination and sexual harassment in the...more
No Claim By Employee Who Was Friends With Alleged Harasser Atalla v. Rite Aid Corp., 2023 WL 2521909 (Cal. Ct. App. 2023) - Hanin Atalla and Erik Lund had a social relationship and became “close friends” before Atalla...more
In McCharles v Jaco Line Contractors Ltd., 2022 AHRC 115, an employee alleged that her employer discriminated against her on the basis of gender contrary to the Alberta Human Rights Act (AHRA) when it terminated her...more
Non-union employers, this goes for you, too! An employee's use of bad language doesn't necessarily mean that the employer can take action against him. Even if the language arguably violates the employer's no-harassment...more
Company Owner Repeatedly Claimed Women Do Not Belong in the Building Trades and Sexually Harassed Female Employees for Years, Federal Agency Charged - SEATTLE — Spokane Valley-based HVAC contractor Air Control Heating &...more
In Hucsko v. A.O. Smith Enterprises Limited, 2021 ONCA 728 (A.O. Smith), a long-term senior employee’s co-worker alleged that the employee sexually harassed her. After a workplace investigation that determined the co-worker’s...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a former Tinder employee who asserted claims of sexual harassment by her superiors must arbitrate her claims pursuant to an enforceable arbitration agreement she signed...more
I have urged all employers to have good and thorough policies against workplace discrimination or harassment. However, a recent case filed by the EEOC against a hotel chain shows that having such policies is not enough, it is...more
COVID-19- automatic unfair dismissal for employee who remained in Italy during outbreak - A Tribunal has found, in the case of Montanaro v Lansafe Limited, that an employee who had travelled from the UK to Italy for the...more
From health and safety concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic, to systemic discrimination issues amidst the Black Lives Matter movement, to continued fallout from the #MeToo movement, employers are currently facing a unique...more
Report on Research Compliance 17, no. 4 (April 2020) The Food and Drug Administration has accused a University of Michigan physician and professor of conducting research for more than three years after his approval from the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The third key trend from our 16th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report involves governmental enforcement litigation, including an overview of priorities and filings by the EEOC, the U.S....more
Prevention of occupational hazards and management of matters related to safety and the protection of health at work are major concerns for all those involved in labor law. This newsletter reviews five notable court...more
Many employers purchase Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) to insure against loss as a result of employment claims. However, employers who do not carefully read their policies could be surprised by what is (or is...more
Chicago Cargo Company Tolerated Sexual Harassment of Female Employees and Fired a Male Employee for Speaking Out, Federal Agency Charged - CHICAGO - Alliance Ground International, a cargo handling company that performs...more
“Claims of sexual harassment typically involve the behavior of fellow employees. But not always,” said a federal appeals court in Gardner v. CLC of Pascagoula, LLC. The case shows employers must take employee complaints of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A case out of the District of Oregon recently dismissed a Plaintiff’s sexual harassment and retaliation claims where the allegations relied on manufactured text messages that Plaintiff failed to produce. ...more
Newton’s Third Law of Physics states that “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” A recent Complaint filed in the Southern District of New York suggests that this principle may also hold true for the...more
With new headlines involving sexual harassment and other inappropriate sexual conduct continuing to emerge on a daily basis, insurance coverage for claims that might emerge is something every company should consider....more
The courts, the Department of Justice, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hold differing views on whether Title VII prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or sexual identity....more
In a new Ontario Court of Appeal case, the appellate court upheld the trial court’s judgment in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $60,000 for moral damages, $55,849 for wrongful dismissal, $25,000 in human rights...more
Young Female Employee Sexually Harassed by Restaurant Manager and Terminated After She Complained, Federal Agency Charged - SAN DIEGO - A federal judge has ordered Mexicali Chicken & Salads, an El Centro, Calif.-based...more
In the world of employment law, there is something called the “Cat’s Paw” theory of liability. The name comes from a fable dating back to the 17th century in which a clever monkey persuades a naïve cat to pull roasting...more