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
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from requiring employee medical examinations absent business necessity. The ADA provides a back pay remedy for violations, but limits these damages to discrimination on...more
4/4/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Back Pay ,
Damages ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Medical Examinations
In recent years, a number of colleges and universities have added caste to their list of prohibited classifications under their anti-discrimination policies. Two Hindu professors at a public California university filed suit,...more
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined review of a First Circuit Court of Appeals decision rejecting a facial challenge to the way the Department of Labor and federal courts determine exempt versus non-exempt duties under...more
Since 1973, federal courts reviewing claims of employment discrimination have used a framework first established by the U.S. Supreme Court’s McDonnell Douglas decision. Under this framework, plaintiffs must show a prima facie...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from asking most applicants questions about their medical history before a conditional offer of employment is made....more
Last week, an Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals panel reversed a district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by red state attorneys general challenging the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s inclusion of abortion among...more
Last year in a rare victory for the Department of Labor, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim by a Dairy Queen franchisee that the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits DOL from establishing any minimum salary for...more
2/21/2025
/ Appeals ,
Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Franchises ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
When considering whether to place employees under post-employment restrictive covenants, employers often consider including customer non-solicitation provisions in addition to or as an alternative to the traditional...more