See how you do with these guaranteed true news items from the last week, all relating to employment law. Then tell me whether you agree that we are living in some crazy times. YCMTSU.*
*You Can’t Make This Stuff Up. (I think...more
It’s been a while since I’ve picked on an advice columnist for leading readers astray on employment law, but we have one, from the usually-sound Work Advice column by Karla Miller of The Washington Post.
The letter writer...more
In New York, if you’re fired for being too cute, your boss may be guilty of gender discrimination.
In a case where it sounds like we are hearing only half of the story, a yoga and massage therapist claimed that her...more
In February 2016, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs filed an administrative complaint against B&H Foto, the largest non-chain photo and video equipment store in the United States. The Complaint alleged that...more
Is it national origin discrimination for your employer to remove you from a work assignment because your name is the same as that of a long-deceased Anglo-American who is currently out of favor?
Robert Lee, sports announcer...more
If you’re a private sector employer, you can generally fire an at-will employee for his or her political beliefs or expression. The First Amendment, as we discussed last week, does not limit you. Depending on where you are,...more
On August 11, Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law the North Carolina Employee Fair Classification Act. The portion of the legislation that deals with worker classifications will take effect December 31....more
On the recent uproar involving a major, major employer and its recently-terminated employee:
No. 1. Is it a good idea to provide an “open forum” to employees if there are certain topics that are off limits? No. If you want...more
Yesterday, I posted about a disability discrimination case that the employer did not really screw up. Even so, a few less-than-optimal moves resulted in an adverse jury verdict that was upheld on appeal.
In Chapter 2 of our...more
Two court decisions came out last week that ought to scare the heck out of employers.
Both involved employers who seem to have been aware of their legal obligations and tried to comply. The employers lost their cases because...more
Last week, I had a short post about the position taken by the U.S. Department of Justice in the Zarda v. Altitude Express “gay skydiver” case.
The DOJ has directly opposed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which...more
(When I think out loud, beware.)-
Ellen Kearns’ discussion of last week’s decision in Barbuto v. Advantage Sales and Marketing, in which the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that employers may have to accommodate...more
As anyone who’s been following the news is aware, President Trump has been publicly and repeatedly indicating his displeasure with Attorney General Jeff Sessions. We are a non-partisan blog, so I’m not going to get into who’s...more
Whoa.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are at cross purposes in the “gay skydiver” case.
Are they ever.
...more
You’ve heard of “English-only” policies, but here is a new one.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit last week against a Houston-area company for allegedly requiring applicants to be of Hispanic national...more
Employers, has this ever happened to you?
A guy (we’ll call him “Ryan”) comes to work for you through a temporary agency. The agency issues the paychecks and generally acts as Ryan’s “HR” representative. Your company pays...more
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act recently celebrated its 50th birthday (it doesn’t look a day over 49). This calls for an age discrimination quiz!...more
Not every obnoxious workplace behavior is unlawful harassment. To violate federal law, the harassment has to be unwelcome, based on a “protected category” (for example, sex or race), and “severe or pervasive.”
But most...more
We officially entered the season of summer this week. What are the most common ways employers can get burned? I can think of four right off the bat.
Sexist air conditioning. It seems like a long time since we’ve read...more
Every now and then, I am told that it’s unfair for employers to take action against employees misbehave off duty.
“No it isn’t,” I reply.
Although I wouldn’t recommend firing everybody who gets in trouble away from work and...more
As our readers know, discrimination against transgender individuals is often treated as sex discrimination under Title VII, as a form of unlawful “sex stereotyping.”
But is it also a “disability” within the meaning of the...more
I’m going to have to make this a regular series.
A few weeks ago, I posted about an “Ask Amy” column involving a bullying boss, which I thought had really poor employment law advice. (To her credit, Amy posted not one, but...more
Last week, we talked about employment investigations. This week, I’d like to talk about what employers do with the information they gathered during the investigation. There are two main tasks:
No. 1: Figure out what...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Connecticut, New York, and Vermont) agreed yesterday to rehear en banc an appeal from the estate of a gay skydiving instructor who alleged he was fired after a customer...more
What makes a workplace investigation so good that you just can’t wait to show the EEOC investigator what you did? And you’re like, “Plaintiff’s lawyer, take us to court — please!”...more