A federal appeals court panel has come out with a decision interpreting the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year in Young v. UPS, and the result wasn’t too good for the employer.
The Sheriff’s Department of Ulster...more
None of us is immune from the Streisand Effect. Not even employers.
A real estate firm in Dallas sued its ex-bookkeeper, Jacqueline, for embezzling approximately $400,000 over a four-year period by writing checks to phony...more
Chanukah starts at sundown this Sunday, and Christmas is only three short weeks away. Can you throw a workplace holiday party that won’t result in a lawsuit? It has been ages since we’ve had a quiz. Let’s do it!...more
Wednesday night the Los Angeles jury hearing the age and disability discrimination case of former sports columnist T.J. Simers came back with a verdict in his favor of $7.1 million, consisting of retro and future lost income,...more
T.J. Simers, a well-known former sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times, is suing the Times for age and disability discrimination and is seeking $18 million. We’re providing regular coverage and analysis of the jury...more
Last week I heard David Lopez, General Counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, speak about EEOC litigation developments at the annual North Carolina/South Carolina Labor and Employment Law conference....more
10/30/2015
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Background Checks ,
Conciliation ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
LGBTQ ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that it will start next month enforcing the new “Home-Care” Final Rule, which prohibits third-party employers from taking advantage of the overtime exemption for certain domestic...more
Marriage therapists are now advocating the use of “performance reviews” by spouses, according to an article in Monday’s Wall Street Journal. “By taking time to regularly evaluate and review their relationship together,”...more
CorpCar Services of Houston (Texas) lost a racial harassment lawsuit filed by two employees based on a dancing gorilla (played by a white woman) who was hired to “entertain” at a mandatory safety meeting. The gorilla’s...more
Law360 reported this morning that Peggy Young and United Parcel Service have settled their pregnancy discrimination/accommodation case that went to the Supreme Court, resulting in this decision from last March. The Supreme...more
A psychologist retained by the Times testified this week that Mr. Simers scored “very high” for paranoia on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. His test results showed that he was “overly sensitive to criticism,”...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit last week in a federal court in Pennsylvania against Landis Communities (retirement communities), claiming that Landis unlawfully refused to accommodate the pregnancy and...more
9/30/2015
/ ADAAA ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Medical Leave ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Screening Procedures ,
Young v United Parcel Service
After the initial NYT story ran, saying the workplace at Amazon is cutthroat — still uses “forced rankings” and even encourages employees to secretly bad-mouth each other to their bosses, has employees who break down in tears...more
“An apple a day keeps the doctor lawyer away.” Here are five easy and inexpensive things that employers can do to minimize their risk of being sued and maximize their chances of victory if they do get sued. None of these...more
8/8/2015
/ Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Information Sharing ,
Misclassification ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Wrongful Termination
On Monday, a federal jury in Atlanta awarded two hourly warehouse workers $2.2 million in a lawsuit brought under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
The controversy started when Atlas Logistics Group Retail...more
It should be easy to avoid retaliation, right? Because retaliatory conduct is intentional – you can’t “accidentally” retaliate against someone. You can’t “negligently” seek payback....more
It’s the moment of truth! (Dum-dum-DUM!) Two weeks ago, we talked about harassment “must-haves” 1 and 2: a good, plain-language policy, and training. Last week, we talked about “must-have” 3: the investigation....more
Last week, I posted about harassment “must-haves” for employers, and talked in detail about the first two: a good policy, and training. This week I’d like to talk about “must-have” no. 3 – a prompt, thorough, and fair...more
Are harassment and retaliation lawsuits all going to the jury now? Are employers doomed? Are the plaintiffs’ lawyers popping the champagne corks? Is the EEOC dancing for joy?...more
The employer community has been waiting for years to receive guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on wellness programs and how an employer’s obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act intersect...more
As our readers know, the EEOC filed two lawsuits last fall against private employers, alleging discrimination against transgender individuals: one case against a medical practice in Florida, and the other against a funeral...more
What do employers need to know about the Supreme Court’s pregnancy accommodation decision last week in Young v. United Parcel Service?...more
I start my new job as a Starbucks barista tomorrow. I am super-excited!!!!! I just hope I can handle the fast pace!...more
Maybe so, according to Rachel Feintzeig, who wrote in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, “Everything Is Awesome! Why You Can’t Tell Employees They’re Doing a Bad Job.” The idea is that many employers are getting away from...more
In closing arguments, the attorney for the defendants called Ms. Marchuk a “wolf” and said she had made up her allegations to get money. Among other things, he noted that her gynecologist, who she saw only a few days after...more