What does an age discrimination plaintiff have to prove to succeed? Federal employees may have an easier path for proving an age discrimination claim, if we are reading the tea leaves correctly on the Supreme Court’s oral...more
1/23/2020
/ ADEA ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Age Discrimination ,
Babb v Wilkie ,
Burden of Proof ,
Burden-Shifting ,
But For Causation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Employees ,
McDonnell Douglas Formula ,
SCOTUS ,
Standard of Proof ,
Summary Judgment
Earlier this month, the Department of Labor issued a new proposed rule that, if it takes effect, will raise the pay threshold for overtime exemption from an annual salary of $23,660 (or $455 weekly) to $35,308 (or $679...more
3/21/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The U.S. federal government shutdown has continued for more than a month, with no probable end in sight. While many government employees are furloughed, an estimated 420,000 others are deemed “essential employees” and are...more
1/25/2019
/ Back Pay ,
Collective Actions ,
Employee Rights ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Government Shutdown ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
When Lump-Sum Payments to Employees are Earnings for Garnishment Purposes -
Welcome to Part 3 of our series on the Department of Labor’s three new opinion letters. We previously looked at the opinion letters on FMLA...more
When Traveling Employees Are Due Compensation (Or Not) -
Welcome to Part 2 of our series on the Department of Labor’s three new opinion letters. Last week, we looked at the new opinion letter on FMLA intermittent breaks....more
Last July, we posted on the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcement that it was reviving its practice of publishing opinion letters as guidance on wage and hour issues, which the Obama Administration halted in 2010. After...more
On January 5, 2018, the Department of Labor announced two employer-friendly changes applicable to interns and volunteers. Specifically, the DOL has adopted an employer-friendly approach to internships and has reinstated a...more
1/30/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internships ,
Misclassification ,
Primary Beneficiary Test ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Unpaid Interns ,
Volunteers ,
Wage and Hour
As you know, over the last few months, sexual harassment allegations have surfaced all over the place, from Hollywood to Capitol Hill to the Today Show. The hot topic of harassment in the workplace has garnered attention from...more
Before everyone gets out of the office to their various homes and families to celebrate the holiday, we wanted to review the year and count our blessings. Not only are we thankful that our families and colleagues in our...more
11/22/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Leave ,
NLRB ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media Policy ,
Wage and Hour
Last month, the Birmingham City Council passed an ordinance criminalizing discrimination in education, housing, employment, and public accommodations. The ordinance not only prohibits discrimination based on the federally...more
Employers need to be on the lookout for instances of offensive employee speech, which may put them between a rock and a hard place as they navigate potential claims under either anti-discrimination laws or federal labor laws....more
Last July, we wrote about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new electronic reporting requirements, which will require certain employers (those with 250 or more employees, or those with 20-249 employees in...more
The House of Representatives passed at least two notable measures last week. You probably heard about the new healthcare legislation, but you may not have heard about the Working Families Flexibility Act (WFFA). Though...more
Just how broad is the EEOC’s subpoena power and are we likely to get some guidance soon? We’ve said before that the McLane v. EEOC case (which is about the EEOC’s subpoena power and is currently before the Supreme Court) is...more
3/8/2017
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Appeals ,
De Novo Standard of Review ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
McLane Co. v EEOC ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Standard of Review ,
Subpoenas
President-elect Trump’s election injects uncertainty into the Supreme Court’s makeup and its future rulings, including for employment-related cases. Because the Senate has not held confirmation hearings on Merrick Garland,...more
1/23/2017
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Age Discrimination ,
Appeals ,
Discovery ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Judicial Appointments ,
McLane Co. v EEOC ,
Motions to Quash ,
Physical Work Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Standard of Review ,
Subpoenas ,
Supreme Court Justices ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration ,
Unduly Burdensome
In our second in a three-part series on what to expect from the Trump administration, we discuss immigration policy and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as what may be in store for parental leave, marriage equality and...more
12/15/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Barack Obama ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
DACA ,
DAPA ,
E-Verify ,
Employee Restrooms ,
Executive Orders ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Reform ,
LGBTQ ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Parental Leave ,
Popular ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
School Restrooms ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration ,
Updated Forms
Now that the election is over, many clients and friends are asking what labor and employment law might look like under the soon to be President Trump. Of course, no one can predict exactly what will happen in the coming term....more
11/22/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Arbitration ,
Blacklist ,
Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
DACA ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employee Benefits ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Vacancies Reform Act ,
Form I-9 ,
Gender Identity ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Reform ,
Joint Employers ,
Judicial Appointments ,
Labor Law Violations ,
LGBTQ ,
Marriage Equality ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Obama Administration ,
OSHA ,
Parental Leave ,
Persuader Rules ,
Protected Class ,
Restroom Legislation ,
Right of First Refusal ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sick Leave ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions ,
USCIS
We posted in October 2015 about the EEOC filing suit against Coca-Cola Bottling of Mobile, asserting sex discrimination in violation of Title VII’s record retention provisions. The complaint alleged that in June 2010 Martina...more
Last week, five members of the United States women’s soccer team (the “Claimants”) filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charge against their employer, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) claiming...more
Employers often call with questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as they navigate when and how to make reasonable accommodations for employees with known disabilities. Most are generally familiar with the...more
In June 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its long-awaited opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, striking down bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional and legalizing same-sex marriage in every state (135 S....more
The EEOC recently filed suit against Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Mobile, asserting sex discrimination in violation of Title VII’s record retention provisions. The complaint alleges that Martina Owes applied in June 2010 for...more
10/9/2015
/ ADEA ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coca Cola ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
GINA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Payroll Records ,
Record Retention ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Young Lawyers
On Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its long-awaited opinion in the Obergefell case, striking down bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional and legalizing same-sex marriage in every state. We posted...more
6/30/2015
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Marriage ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination
For the second time, the Fourth Circuit has determined that African-American employees at a South Carolina steel plant are entitled to Rule 23 class certification. In Brown v. Nucor Corporation and Nucor Steel-Berkeley,...more
Kleiner Perkins emerged victorious last week in their former employee Ellen Pao’s heavily publicized sex discrimination lawsuit when the jury handed down a defense verdict after days of deliberation. Pao filed suit in...more