When litigating employment discrimination claims, plaintiffs frequently base their allegations on alleged disparaging comments made by a member of the company’s management. When that manager was the one who made a decision...more
9/5/2025
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Appeals ,
Disparagement ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Evidence ,
Managers ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment
Here is a common scenario: A key employee resigns, and the former employer discovers that on the way out he emailed to a personal account sensitive business information including financial and strategic planning data. ...more
As part of the Family and Medical Leave Act’s medical certification process, the employee’s health care provider includes an estimate of the time the employee will need to be absent from work. ...more
With the explosion of legal hemp products across the U.S., employers are increasingly faced with employees who claim that a positive test for marijuana resulted from use of legal CBD products. ...more
8/29/2025
/ Appeals ,
At-Will Employment ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hemp ,
Marijuana ,
Retaliation ,
State Law Claims ,
Summary Judgment ,
THC
For years, both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and multiple federal appellate circuits have agreed on the legal standard for proving liability for sexual or other harassment by a third party such as a vendor or...more
8/15/2025
/ Appeals ,
Customers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Harassment ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Third-Party ,
Third-Party Harassment ,
Title VII ,
Vendors
How should employers react to employee complaints of harassment or threats of physical violence from a former coworker? Once the company has terminated the coworker, concerns about retaliation against an employee by the fired...more
In some situations, employees undergoing serious medical issues request accommodations that would require extensive time away from work or major modifications to their job duties. ...more
In recent years, state courts have questioned whether independent contractors can be placed under enforceable post-engagement noncompetition agreements. ...more
When a disabled employee requests an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, this triggers an interactive process whereby both parties share information and work to determine if a reasonable and effective...more
At the end of its latest term last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a major decision regarding the ability of federal district courts to issue nationwide injunctions blocking executive branch regulations and executive...more
Last week in a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act does not apply to claims by a former employee that changes to her retiree medical benefits discriminated against her...more
6/27/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Former Employee ,
Retirement Plan ,
SCOTUS ,
Stanley v City of Sanford Florida
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis that has resulted in profound changes to when employees can claim discrimination relating to job decisions that do not appear to have much...more
6/20/2025
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Lateral Transfers ,
Muldrow v City of St Louis ,
Risk Management ,
SCOTUS ,
Supervisors ,
Title VII
Here is a common scenario faced by human resources professionals: An employee complains about unprofessional and bullying behavior by a coworker. After interviewing the two employees and other workers, the employer cannot...more
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected use of a special legal test for plaintiffs to prove illegal bias in reverse discrimination cases. ...more
6/13/2025
/ Ames v Ohio Department of Youth Services ,
Appeals ,
Burden of Proof ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Evidentiary Standards ,
Protected Class ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
On June 2, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision interpreting the limitations period for filing lawsuits under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. ...more
6/6/2025
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Dissenting Opinions ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Judicial Authority ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Popular ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations
The applicability of U.S. labor and employment laws to U.S. citizens working outside of the country can be complicated. In general, if the citizen works for a U.S. company outside of the country, they enjoy the same legal...more
For employers, workers' compensation laws act as both a sword and a shield. While injured employees do not have to prove negligence resulting in the injury, they cannot sue the employer for personal injury outside of the...more
When an employee requests an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, this sets into motion an interactive process intended to determine whether the requested accommodation is both reasonable and effective....more
When a commissioned salesperson leaves employment, the most common dispute we encounter involves that employee’s entitlement to payment of commissions after their departure date. ...more
Recently, we have seen an unusual spike in client situations involving legal claims associated with discipline or discharge of employees who engage in threatening or disruptive behavior in the workplace....more
Employers sometimes believe that eliminating a job position instead of terminating an employee for poor performance gives them a "get out of jail free" card for purposes of avoiding legal claims associated with the decision....more
5/2/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Termination
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring federal agencies from investigating or prosecuting employment discrimination using the disparate impact concept. Most discrimination claims allege that an...more
4/25/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Investigations ,
Protected Class ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration ,
Workplace Investigations
Drug testing for marijuana has never been an exact science. There is no consensus on what level of marijuana in the bloodstream constitutes intoxication. Unlike alcohol, employees who used marijuana weeks ago or longer can...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a protected qualified individual as one who can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodations. ...more
The Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to provide unpaid meal breaks to non-exempt employees if those breaks are of a sufficient length and if employees are relieved of their duties during such breaks....more