When an employer provides an employee with a release and settlement agreement, the document regularly includes provisions that prohibit the employee from criticizing the employer and related parties. Several years ago, the...more
For years, federal courts have held that pregnancy and sex discrimination laws do not require employers to affirmatively accommodate breastfeeding by employees. However, a recent line of cases has blurred this conclusion,...more
Contrary to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) position discussed in last week’s EmployNews, federal courts continue to allow employers to require employees to actually come to work. Last month, the Fifth...more
Over the past several years, we have reported on a seemingly never-ending series of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decisions proclaiming a variety of abusive employee practices as protected behavior under federal labor...more
On July 6, the full Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals declined to hear the appeal of a case dismissing a sexual orientation bias claim under Title VII for lack of jurisdiction. This decision creates a split among the federal...more
When an employer believes that a former employee has violated post-employment restrictive covenants, it often seeks injunctive relief intended to prevent harm to its business pending a final determination on the merits of the...more
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) only applies to employers with 20 or more employees. For years, small local governmental units have understood that they are exempt from ADEA jurisdiction based on the actual...more
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina and South Carolina) affirmed a $600,000 jury verdict in favor of a West Virginia coal miner who refused to use a new biometric hand scanner installed by his...more
Last week’s EmployNews reported an Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision in which two of the three judges considering the case concluded that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition against sex...more
As reported in EmployNews, last month in its Salinas decision, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina and South Carolina) adopted a new, broader test for determining when two entities are joint...more
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage payment laws, employers are responsible for compliance with wage payment requirements. Plaintiffs cannot sue non-employers claiming overtime or minimum wage violations....more
2/8/2017
/ Appeals ,
Construction Industry ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
General Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Minimum Wage ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
Reversal ,
Subcontractors ,
Wage and Hour
Most of the recent legal controversy over employer enforcement of social media policies has involved employees’ concerted activity rights under the National Labor Relations Act. However, a recent case from the Fourth Circuit...more
Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed its earlier position that compensatory and punitive damages are not available to plaintiffs who allege violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)....more
A federal district court’s unanticipated injunction on November 22 blocked the planned December 1 implementation date for the Department of Labor’s (DOL) increased minimum salary required to claim most exemptions from the...more
Title VII’s discrimination prohibitions include actions taken against white employees based on their race. Last month in an unusual, unpublished decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that reverse...more
In recent years, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina and South Carolina) has moved toward a position recognizing that certain workplace occurrences automatically meet the legal requirements for...more
On July 29, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals handed the EEOC a major setback, concluding that Title VII does not protect employees against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. In Hively v. Ivy Tech...more
When a terminated employee alleges that her firing resulted from discrimination or retaliation, employers often dispute those claims by noting that the employer never hired anyone to take the terminated employee’s position....more
7/26/2016
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Protected Class ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Remand ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Termination ,
Title VII
Here is a common human resource scenario: An employee goes out of work on medical leave. While she is away from work, the managers or co-workers who cover her duties discover that the work can be readily accomplished without...more
7/19/2016
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Legitimate Business Interest ,
Medical Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reduction in Hours ,
Reinstatement ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wage and Hour
In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued an Enforcement Guidance stating when employers’ use of criminal background checks to exclude applicants from jobs violates Title VII. The Guidance states the EEOC’s...more
7/13/2016
/ Appeals ,
Attorney General ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Disparate Impact ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Felons ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Justiciable Controversy ,
Remand ,
Standing ,
Title VII
As litigation and administrative investigations of misclassification of employees for overtime purposes have grown, employers have increasingly turned to alternative methods of pay intended to reduce their overtime...more
Over the past several years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has taken a decidedly more aggressive position with regard to litigation against employers accused of discrimination. The EEOC has brought a number of...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from discriminating against protected individuals with respect to terms and conditions of employment, including compensation. Employers frequently ask whether these...more
Title VII and related federal anti-discrimination laws prohibit employers from discriminating against persons based on their membership in a protected category. These discrimination prohibitions include pay disparities. What...more
Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals backed the National Labor Relations Board’s position that employee social media postings are protected concerted activity under federal law, even if they use obscenities that...more