A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled this week that obesity is not a “disability” within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act — even as amended in 2009 — unless the condition was...more
Glad that’s settled....more
Big news for employees and employers in North Carolina — the General Assembly enacted a bill on Wednesday (signed by Gov. Pat McCrory (R) within hours) that was primarily intended to preempt a certain high-profile municipal...more
I have to admit, I was afraid that I might need to go into hiding after I expressed doubts last week about that study claiming that female lawyers don’t do well when their bosses are male Republicans. But the reader feedback...more
How many stars would you give Yelp as an employer? Read on!
I’m sure you’ve all heard by now about Talia Ben-Ora, the Yelp employee who was trying to live in the San Francisco area working as a minimum-wage customer...more
Last year, Tommy Eden had a post about a gender identity lawsuit in which an employer in Georgia actually won summary judgment. A reader alerted me last night that a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit...more
Readers have been clamoring for my take on the alcoholism-discrimination lawsuit filed by Steve Sarkisian against the University of Southern California.
Actually, I got one email from a reader, who had a better take on the...more
You may have heard about the two Tea Party legislators in Michigan who were having an affair, engaged in a bizarre cover-up that failed, had to resign/were expelled, and then lost their election bids to get their seats back....more
Well, it’s that time of year again – what are you thankful for? Here are some Human Resources and employment law matters for which I am thankful. Please feel free to add your own in the comments....more
Here are 20 questions that every employer should ask itself before going ahead with a termination. If you think I’ve missed anything, please feel free to add your own in the comments....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
Who, indeed. The organization recently won a nice summary judgment victory in an age discrimination suit brought in federal court in New York by a former employee. The plaintiff was 50 when she was hired by her 56-year-old...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
If you have a poor performer, is it better to make a clean break and fire him, or is it better to prolong his (and your) agony?
That is obviously a biased question, but some employers will do almost anything to avoid firing...more
9/11/2015
/ Barack Obama ,
Best Practices ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
IBM ,
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sick Leave ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Termination ,
Transparency
The Winston-Salem Journal (my hometown paper – yay!) reports that a company is suing a former employee in the North Carolina Business Court for breach of his confidentiality and non-compete agreements.*
*The article...more
Employers, it is a losing battle to debate theology with your employees who request religious accommodation. If you don’t believe me, ask Consolidated Coal Company and its parent, CONSOL Energy, which have been ordered to pay...more
Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer announced this week that she is expecting twin girls, and Yahoo’s stock reportedly took an immediate dive. (H8rs!) Mayer said that she plans to take only two weeks off, and she can probably manage...more
Geoffrey Tolliver, a Medicaid eligibility specialist for the City, went out on a medical leave of absence for cancer in November 2013, and he passed away in December 2014. The City recently moved to terminate his employment...more
Here’s a lesson: Don’t call your employee an “old fart,” especially if you think you may need to fire him someday.
And don’t call his co-workers “old farts” right before you fire the co-workers.
...more
In a nutshell, the Supreme Court decision in EEOC v. Abercrombie means this: if an employment decision is motivated by religion – even if the employer does not actually know the religious need of the individual – then the...more
First Glance perspective by attorney Robin Shea of the Supreme Court's recent Religious Accommodation decision in EEOC v. Abercrombie. Spoiler alert: more alarming than it sounds....more
6/2/2015
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Discrimination ,
EEOC v Abercrombie ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
First Glance ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Popular ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII
A hot topic for the past few days, after an article on the subject appeared in Fortune, has been whether it’s discriminatory for an employer to specify in recruiting that it’s seeking to hire “digital natives.” A “digital...more
Some employers really, really hate to fire employees. That doesn’t mean they won’t do it – but they’ll do just about anything to avoid calling it what it is....more
Shortly before Ellen Pao lost started a “conversation” about sex discrimination in the tech industry, yet another lawsuit was filed alleging sex discrimination in the tech industry. ...more
You may remember that I stirred up some contentiousness a few weeks ago when I suggested that employers should not challenge unemployment claims except in the worst cases. ...more