Seyfarth Synopsis: Effective January 1, 2020, the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act (WTA) amended the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) to, among other items, require all employers in Illinois to provide annual sexual...more
2/28/2020
/ #MeToo ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Freelance Workers ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Guidance ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Transparency
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) not only provides protection to individuals who have physical or mental impairments, but to individuals an employer may perceive to have such impairments. These...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In affirming summary judgment in favor of AutoZone, the Second Circuit rules that a sales associate did not provide enough evidence to satisfy her burden of proof for sex discrimination, retaliation and...more
9/18/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
AutoZone ,
Depositions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Evidence ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hostile Environment ,
Retaliation ,
Service Advisors ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment
The U.S. Court of Appeals in the Seventh Circuit has recently decided a case involving an extremely obese bus driver and denied his claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213, as...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: New decision from the Supreme Court ruled that Title VII’s requirement that plaintiffs file with the EEOC or other state agencies is a non-jurisdictional claim-processing rule, which means it can be...more
6/13/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Amended Complaints ,
Appeals ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Forfeiture ,
Fort Bend County Texas v Davis ,
Jurisdictional Requirements ,
Mandatory Claim-Processing Rules ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Title VII ,
Waiver Rule ,
Wrongful Termination
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Department of Labor issues an opinion letter clarifying that employers must promptly designate FMLA leave, regardless of the availability of paid leave....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A number of changes have been made (and proposed amendments are being considered) to the Illinois Human Rights Act since the beginning of the year....more
2/28/2019
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Covered Employees ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Government Investigations ,
Human Rights ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Notice Requirements ,
Opt-Outs ,
Proposed Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations
Seyfarth Synopsis: According to the 4th Circuit, a female employee who was subjected to false rumors that her promotion was a result of sleeping with the boss can levy her claim for sex-based discrimination against her...more
2/20/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Job Promotions ,
Reputational Injury ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII ,
Workplace Romances
Seyfarth Synopsis: Effective January 1, 2019, the EEOC withdrew its prior guidance on the level of incentives employers may offer their employees to convince those workers to participate in employer-sponsored wellness...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following an opinion by the Illinois Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit will discuss the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act issue — whether the Act requires class plaintiffs to show that they suffered actual harm...more
1/31/2019
/ Article III ,
Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Class Action ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Facebook ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Fingerprints ,
IL Supreme Court ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Social Media ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations
Seyfarth Synopsis: Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals clarifies that employers have discretion to provide a reasonable accommodation as identified through the interactive process. Once an employee abandons the interactive...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: For the first time since the enactment in 2008 of the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA), which broadened the definition of a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Ninth Circuit addressed,...more
Plaintiffs often have difficulty producing evidence of comparators when attempting to prove unlawful discrimination because records contained in personnel files are confidential, but any attempts to gather such evidence must...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers must evaluate their safety protections for pregnant women and engage in the interactive process with employees to find reasonable accommodations....more
9/17/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Reassignment ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
OSHA ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Washington State Office of the Attorney General has recently published a Guide outlining pregnant employees’ civil rights under the Washington “Healthy Starts Act,” a law which became effective July 23,...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In the last in a three-part series addressing sexual harassment in the workplace, we asked Philippe Weiss, Esq., Managing Director of Seyfarth Shaw at Work, to share insights from the front lines, that can...more
12/21/2017
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII ,
Tone At The Top
Seyfarth Synopsis: Gone are the days where sexual harassment training will be enough. It’s time to shift the workplace focus from just ticking a box (i.e., training complete) to creating a culture where harassment (or...more
12/15/2017
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII ,
Tone At The Top
Seyfarth Synopsis: Over the next few weeks, we’re going to weigh in on the growing national debate around the recent wave of sexual harassment allegations. To date, no one seems immune from the allegations: celebrities,...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In this case a home-care nurse complained about the quality of care her patient received from the patient’s family members. Subsequent review and inspections by the company found some “serious problems”...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A recent decision out of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia serves as a helpful reminder on the difficulties of maintaining privilege during internal company investigations. But with a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: DOT has withdrawn its rulemaking on safety sensitive positions in highway and rail transportation.
This week the U.S. Department of Transportation has withdrawn its March 10, 2016 Advance Notice of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: According to the EEOC in this just filed lawsuit, a home care services provider in North Carolina violated federal disability rights law when it rejected telecommuting requests from an employee whose asthma...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Minnesota Supreme Court found that a job applicant need only prove that the employee’s interest in a 12-week maternity leave was the “substantial causative factor” that “actually motivated” the...more
In a recent Eleventh Circuit opinion, the Court found that the insurance carrier was responsible, under Georgia law, for the harm caused by an intoxicated employee’s vehicle usage. Great American Alliance Ins. Co. v....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employer is caught by WHD investigator instructing its employees to lie during interviews, and provides falsified records, containing whited-out and edited time records, in order to conform to the Federal...more