An employer establishes a weekend work policy where only male employees can take both days off, and female employees can only take one weekend day off. Sounds like gender discrimination maybe? Well, in Hamilton, et al. v....more
If a letter from the EEOC is in your virtual mailbox but you never open it, have you received it? Most of us are familiar with the requirement that a claimant who files an EEOC charge has 90 days to file a lawsuit after...more
California is complicated for employers — and a recent case, Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, is just one more example. The Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) authorized California employees to sue employers...more
6/16/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws
Let’s say you are tired of your current position and want to try something new with the same employer. You apply for a job transfer, and you are turned down. Then you find out that other people were able to make the move more...more
If you have an arbitration agreement, do you have to compel arbitration when the lawsuit is filed or can you wait awhile? This week, the Supreme Court concluded that a party litigating in federal court cannot later compel...more
Given the explosive growth of cannabis products and the increasing number of states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal or adult use (nearly 40 at last count), employers across the country are asking whether they can...more
4/22/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Section 301 ,
State and Local Government ,
Termination
In our modern world of a booming CBD industry and an increasing number of states that have legalized marijuana, can you terminate an employee for a positive drug test for marijuana? What if the test shows marijuana...more
4/6/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
State and Local Government ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination
The joint employer rule has been a hot topic in the last several years, mostly in the context of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Recall the drama of the Trump administration's narrower definition of a joint employer for...more
There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years about the joint employer test for liability under employment statutes. Whether it be Uber drivers in California or the back and forth over the Trump administration’s...more
We are all familiar with the phrase “No good deed goes unpunished.” That apparently is the theme of an Eighth Circuit opinion reviewing an employee’s suit alleging that she was improperly denied an accommodation under the...more
What is the right way to dismiss a case the parties have settled, and are FLSA cases different? Typically, when parties to a lawsuit settle a case, they merely alert the court of the settlement and then file a stipulation of...more
2/15/2022
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Settlement ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
So, the union has an agreement with the company’s management that only those on their predetermined qualification list can be selected for a job. Would that list, or at least the administrative arm for that list, be...more
Many of us are understandably anxious to put another tumultuous year of the pandemic behind us. But before we sit down at the table to fill our plates and bellies to overflowing to celebrate the holiday, we can all find some...more
11/24/2021
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Harassment ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Stays ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
We’ve been talking a lot about COVID-19 lately and, in particular, the various regulations and guidance that have come out regarding an employer’s day-to-day responsibilities: Can you require employees to take the vaccine?...more
10/13/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination
In another chapter in litigation alliteration, in Maner v. Dignity Health, f/k/a Catholic Healthcare West, the Ninth Circuit held that a male employee’s theory that his supervisor’s long-term romantic relationship with a...more
9/9/2021
/ Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Preferred Treatment ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Workplace Romances
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) entitles employees to paid short-term military leave in certain circumstances, following the...more
You may recall our blog post last summer recapping the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia that held discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited by Title VII. After that decision,...more
7/20/2021
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Employee Training ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
New Guidance ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently reiterated the importance of engaging in the interactive process with employees seeking disability accommodations. This case serves as a helpful reminder,...more
Roughly 15 months ago the word “Zoom” would have conjured up images of cartoon race cars or maybe Dr. Seuss’ Go Dog Go book. Such images not only show our age but reflect how much our world has changed since the COVID-19...more
Bradley attorneys have partnered with Lexology to draft the Getting the Deal Through Employment chapter for Alabama.
This guide covers a state snapshot, the employment relationship, hiring, wage and hour, discrimination,...more
11/10/2020
/ Age Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Pay ,
Gun Laws ,
Immigration ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State and Local Government ,
Unions ,
Wiretapping ,
Workers Compensation Act
Retaliation claims in employment litigation have been on the rise for years. The typical scenario has an employee reporting some sort of alleged discriminatory act, either against them or a coworker, followed by the employer...more
There have been many examples of the tension between the “gig economy” and traditional labor laws. Most of the companies like Uber or Grubhub choose to classify their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees,...more
A February 2020 jury verdict against county music star Martina McBride’s production company highlights – albeit indirectly – the perils of unpaid internship programs and the issues they can cause under the Fair Labor...more
2/27/2020
/ Compensatory Damages ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Internships ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
Primary Beneficiary Test ,
Retaliation ,
Unpaid Interns ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
Can you require employees to sign arbitration agreements? After more than 20 years of saying no, the EEOC has reversed its policy and says you can.
Background -
In 1997 the EEOC issued the Policy Statement on Mandatory...more
What happens if you give an employee an accommodation that goes above and beyond what the ADA requires? Can you change your mind down the road and stop providing that accommodation? Or are you stuck providing that...more