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
The sometimes agonizingly slow Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is trying to be more efficient. According to the latest Agency Financial Report, in fiscal year 2019 the EEOC reduced the level of pending private sector...more
If you want to avoid potential liability from a former employee, remember a key maxim: Stick to your story about why you made the employment decision. If an employer shifts rationales for its decision or tries to pile on by...more
9/10/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Jury Trial ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Piling-On ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination
Usually, once is not enough, at least in the hostile work environment context. Unless, as the court found in Ronnie L. Outlaw v. SBH Services, Inc., it is.
Typically, a single incident of harassment – especially by a...more
In a decision that could have employers rethinking how they offer employees a severance agreement, in McClellan v. Midwest Machining, Inc. the Sixth Circuit held that former employees seeking to void severance agreements do...more
8/21/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Duress ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reversal ,
Severance Agreements ,
Severance Pay ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Void Contracts
GINA—that elusive law about employers collecting genetic information that rarely comes up. What if an employee voluntarily shares his genetic history—can he turn around and claim his employer improperly acquired the genetic...more
6/1/2018
/ Appeals ,
Cancer ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Genetic Discrimination ,
GINA ,
Medical History ,
Medical Leave ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Voluntary Disclosure
Don’t listen to all the doubters – HR truly can save the day.
A recent federal court decision from the Western District of Tennessee illustrates the point again: prompt and appropriate investigation of a sexual...more
The more things change, the more they stay the same. As our “on-demand” society continues to develop and services are offered in ever new and more convenient ways, businesses must remain mindful of the traditional factors...more
All Tennessee employers and their agents must now comply with the “Employee Online Privacy Act of 2014,” a new law that prohibits employers from asking their employees for their usernames and passwords to social media sites,...more
1/6/2015
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Email ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Facebook ,
New Legislation ,
Online Privacy Protection Act ,
Passwords ,
Popular ,
Social Media ,
Social Media Policy ,
Social Networks