For most non-exempt employees, the Fair Labor Standards Act considers time spent traveling during the working day to be compensable working time. Last week, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals applied this principle to travel...more
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could have significant impacts on employee retiree medical insurance plans. In Stanley v. City of Sanford, a retired city employee alleges that Sanford’s...more
When reviewing an employee’s request for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers sometimes develop tunnel vision when deciding whether the claimed medical condition constitutes a protected ADA...more
1/17/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appellate Courts ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Mental Health ,
PTSD ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers established internal procedures to evaluate employees' requests for religious and medical-based exemptions from vaccination mandates. ...more
1/10/2025
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII
The Family and Medical Leave Act provides unpaid job-protected leave for a qualified employee to care for a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition. This means that FMLA protections do not extend to employee...more
12/20/2024
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
In Loco Parentis ,
Parental Responsibilities ,
Special Needs Adults ,
Wrongful Termination
Lawsuits challenging employers' authority to require measures intended to prevent COVID-19 infections continue to wend their way through the federal judiciary. Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim...more
12/6/2024
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The Fair Labor Standards Act contains complex rules for determining whether non-exempt employee travel is compensable working time. In most circumstances, time spent commuting to and from work is not considered FLSA working...more
Following a "cause" finding in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge of discrimination investigation, the agency issues a right to sue letter to the charging party or agrees to sue the employer on that person’s...more
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a petition requesting review of a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) decision that set a low bar for plaintiffs to plead...more
Federal courts are facing an increasing number of lawsuits from employees claiming that their rights were violated when they were required to attend diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training. These suits have used...more
The Family and Medical Leave Act does not require employers to allow qualified employees to work remotely. While such requests may fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act’s reasonable accommodation obligation, the FMLA...more
We previously reported a growing number of questions from employers involving employees who have tested positive for marijuana and who claimed the positive test resulted from their use of legal CBD products. Last week, the...more
Last month, we reported on a decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes Tennessee) concluding that an employee’s asthma did not constitute a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilities...more
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a number of federal court decisions involving disability discrimination claims from teachers who requested full-time remote work as an accommodation for compromised immune systems or other...more
In 2008, Congress amended the Americans with Disabilities Act to expand the definition of medical conditions that qualify for protections under that statute. The amendments resulted from a number of federal court decisions...more
North Carolina is an at-will employment state, but recognizes a limited exception from that rule for terminations that violate the state’s public policy. Courts have wrestled for years over the meaning of public policy and...more
A significant number of employers are opting to elect mandatory arbitration of potential disputes with employees as an alternative to state or federal courts. In some circumstances, arbitration can be quicker than litigation,...more
Last week, we reported a federal appellate decision finding that an employee who insisted on working remotely failed to demonstrate a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act because he would not consider alternative...more
Employers are facing an increasing number of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charges and lawsuits from white employees who claim that exposure to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training at work...more
In its Alston decision in 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ended the legal assumption that NCAA athletes were pure amateurs, exempt from a range of legal protections extended to workers. Since that decision, courts have faced a...more
When a disabled employee requests a workplace accommodation, the Americans with Disabilities Act instructs the employer to determine whether the requested accommodation (or an alternative) allows the employee to perform the...more
In the days before cellphones, employees required to remain on-call for work were generally entitled to compensation for time spent at home waiting for the landline to ring. Given the ubiquity of mobile communication...more
In order to claim overtime exempt status under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s white-collar exemptions, the position in question must meet both the duties and salary tests set forth under Department of Labor regulations. The...more
5/31/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
Over-Time ,
Salaried Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
When litigating claims under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), litigants are aware of long-standing case law that essentially awards a prevailing plaintiff with their attorneys’ fees absent extraordinary...more
The tip wars between hospitality employers and employees continue unabated. Numerous lawsuits contend that restaurants and other employers wrongfully retain or require sharing of customer gratuities, as well as violate Fair...more