In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued an Enforcement Guidance dealing with employer use of criminal background checks in the hiring process. The agency concluded that widespread use of such checks...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act sets forth the conditions under which employers can require medical examinations as a condition of hire. Last month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employer violated the...more
9/12/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Medical Examinations ,
Screening Procedures
Most employers understand that with appropriate disclaimers, they have the right to monitor employee use of the company’s electronic communication systems. With that said, unhappy employees continue to attempt to use federal...more
Plaintiffs who want to file lawsuits alleging discrimination under federal civil rights laws such as Title VII must first file an administrative charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before proceeding to...more
On occasion, we read case reports that make us wonder why an employer litigates a claim that appears to be based on rigid adherence to work rules that do not make a whole lot of sense. A recent example is a decision from the...more
In its 1998 Oncale decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that same-sex sexual harassment can violate Title VII’s gender discrimination prohibitions. However, the court noted that in order to demonstrate violation of the...more
When an employer moves for summary dismissal of a plaintiff’s employment discrimination or harassment claim, it must show that there is no genuine issue of material fact in dispute, thereby allowing the judge to make a...more
Employees seeking accommodations for medical conditions under the Americans with Disabilities Act often request modified work schedules. In some cases, the employee presents medical information indicating an ability only to...more
Over the past several years, we have reported an increasing number of federal appeals court decisions that have characterized even single instances of certain racial slurs as sufficient to constitute hostile environment...more
Employees and their medical providers continue to come up with creative requests for accommodation of medical conditions under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Last month in an unpublished decision, the Sixth Circuit...more
A new unpublished opinion from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reminds employers that their obligation to provide disabled persons with reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act does not limit...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act is not an affirmative action law, meaning that employers are not required to hire or continue the employment of disabled persons who cannot perform essential job functions after reasonable...more
Last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis confirmed employers’ ability to avoid class and collective action claims through the use of mandatory arbitration agreements with employees. This month,...more
Recent allegations about conduct by celebrities and high-profile executives such as Harvey Weinstein remind employers that quid pro quo sexual harassment still persists in many industries. Unlike general hostile environment...more
Last week in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held in favor of employers in a case that may push an increasing number of companies to use mandatory arbitration agreements with their employees. Arbitration agreements in...more
5/29/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
SCOTUS
As with life in general, sometimes it’s best for a manager to keep frustrations over a work situation to himself or herself. This advice was confirmed in a recent decision from the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, when a...more
We typically avoid reporting on cases that involve procedural issues primarily of interest to trial lawyers. However, once in a while, a procedural decision can have significant impacts on how employers structure their human...more
The Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees an entitlement of up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave. The employer cannot require the employee to work during this time, and insistence by the employer that the...more
The legal line between race and national origin discrimination claims continues to fade as federal courts take an increasingly expansive definition of the term “race.” Last month in an unpublished decision, the Fourth Circuit...more
The Family and Medical Leave Act does not apply to all employers or even all employees within a covered company. For example, if the employee works at a location with fewer than 50 employees within a 75-mile radius, that...more
Perhaps the most frequently requested religious accommodation under Title VII involves scheduling to avoid working certain times of the week. Employers must consider allowing accommodations to allow employees time away from...more
As technology changes, courts have increasingly accepted disabled employees’ arguments that they can remotely perform the essential functions of their jobs. Therefore, telecommuting may be recognized as a form of required...more
In its 2012 Hosanna-Tabor decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a “ministerial exemption” to employment claims brought under Title VII and the ADA. The exception allows religious employers to make what otherwise would...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act is not an affirmative action law. Employers are not required to waive basic job requirements if the applicant or employee is unable to perform them due to a disabling medical condition....more
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employee compensation counted for purposes of fulfilling minimum wage and overtime obligations need not be paid all in cash. According to Section 203(m) of the FLSA, wages also include...more