Title VII and related federal civil rights laws contain short administrative claims periods that often result in preclusion of actions filed after expiration of these dates. These exclusions lead to frequent litigation...more
5/31/2016
/ Constructive Discharge ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Green v Brennan ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Race Discrimination ,
Resignation ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Title VII ,
USPS
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from refusing to hire qualified individuals with a disability on the basis of their condition, if they can perform the essential functions of the job with or without...more
5/18/2016
/ Administrative Remedies ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Essential Functions ,
FMCSA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Medical Examinations ,
Popular ,
Remand ,
Reversal
Since the Americans with Disabilities Act was adopted, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has considered morbid obesity to fall within the definition of a protected disability. Earlier this month, the Eighth Circuit...more
The Family and Medical Leave Act imposes liability for interference by the “employer” with leave rights. Typically, the disgruntled employee asserts FMLA claims against the company employing him or her, but the Act also...more
In recent months, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has stated its position that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act generally prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities or records of past disabilities. For example, an employer could not refuse to hire an applicant who has been through...more
The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to provide 60 days advance notice to employees of certain qualifying plant closings and mass layoffs. The WARN thresholds are based on...more
Title VII prohibits discrimination based on gender. Employers generally cannot adopt different qualification standards for men and women for the same job. However in some circumstances, federal courts have recognized that...more
Plaintiffs can sue for employment discrimination under federal civil rights laws using two theories. Disparate treatment claims allege that the plaintiff was treated differently based on his or her protected status. Disparate...more
In general, once an employee tenders his or her notice of resignation, the employer is under no legal obligation to rescind acceptance of the notice. Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals cast doubt on this rule by...more
In North Carolina, an initial offer of employment serves as adequate legal consideration to support non-competition and non-solicitation restrictive covenants. However, once a person is already employed, the employer must pay...more
Employers that receive requests for accommodation made by a disabled employee must remain careful about making significant changes to that employee’s terms and conditions of employment prior to concluding review and...more
Earlier this year in its Abercrombie decision, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that an employee suing for religious discrimination did not have to demonstrate actual knowledge of an employee’s religious practices to trigger...more
In some situations, employees taking Family and Medical Leave were on shaky grounds with regard to their continuing employment prior to the absence. The employer then moves to terminate the employee either while he remains on...more
Time and time again, human resource professionals get blank stares when they ask managers for documentation supporting their strong desire to get rid of an employee they consider to be a poor performer. Not having prepared...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to engage in an interactive process to determine if a qualified individual with a disability can perform the essential functions of the job through provision of...more
Most employers using temporary workers from an employment agency assume that they are liable as employers for certain legal claims. While a reasonable assumption, until last week, this status had never been formally...more
8/3/2015
/ Appeals ,
Control Test ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
Remand ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Supervisors ,
Temporary Employees ,
Title VII
As previously reported in EmployNews, recent National Labor Relations Board decisions have disrupted established guidelines with regard to employers’ obligations to tolerate uncivil and insulting behavior and comments from...more
Last week, the Colorado Supreme Court rejected the claim of a quadriplegic employee terminated for testing positive for marijuana. In Coats v. Dish Network, LLC, the plaintiff possessed a valid medical marijuana card issued...more
When an employer signs a general release of claims with a former employee, it expects that the agreement and the consideration provided will prevent future legal claims. However, certain actions, such as Workers’ Compensation...more
Green v. Donahoe involves a Postal Service worker who alleges that he was forced to choose between retirement and a demotion and transfer to another position. The plaintiff quit several months after being given this choice,...more
5/8/2015
/ Constructive Discharge ,
Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Limitation Periods ,
Race Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
USPS ,
Wrongful Termination
In order for a plaintiff to prove age discrimination, he/she must show that age is a “but for” reason for the termination or other employment action. In other words, but for the plaintiff’s age, the termination decision would...more
Several years ago, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission set discriminatory use of criminal and financial background checks as a top enforcement priority. These cases are brought under the disparate impact theory,...more
Earlier this week, the arts and crafts retailer Michael’s Stores, Inc. received notice of a new class action lawsuit challenging its use of applicant background checks. The lawsuit alleges that the retailer failed to provide...more
Last year, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued final regulations requiring that federal contractors subject to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act adopt new measures intended to...more