New Title IX Regulations: A Seismic Shift During a Pandemic (Webinar Recording)
The Italian Data Protection Authority has issued a new decision that further restricts employers’ ability to use information from third-party reports, private conversations, or social media posts as evidence in disciplinary...more
Here is a common scenario faced by human resources professionals: An employee complains about unprofessional and bullying behavior by a coworker. After interviewing the two employees and other workers, the employer cannot...more
Judge Easterbrook of the Seventh Circuit, one of the most prominent jurists in the country, recently issued a resounding endorsement of universities’ right to determine their own academic affairs. His opinion will have its...more
Every employee hired is expected to be a team player and integrate into the employer's culture to cultivate success. However, nearly all employers find out at some point that new hires do not always work out as planned....more
Can a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) limit the authority of a labor arbitrator to determine the appropriateness of a disciplinary punishment? It can, but only when the CBA clearly says so, reiterated the Michigan Court...more
In the Matter of Arbitration Between Milton Area Education Association and Milton Area School District (Talarico 2022) (Arbitrator sustains discharge of teacher for inappropriate social media posts)....more
The Americans with Disabilities Act does not require employers to ignore or excuse serious violations of their rules of conduct. For example, an employee who brings a weapon to work in violation of the employer’s policy...more
Lion Elastomers Revives a "Setting-Specific" Standard That Is Again Likely to Lead to Arbitrary Results and Conflicting Obligations Under Various Statutes - After the National Labor Relations Board's recent decision in...more
Employers in Connecticut need to be aware that Connecticut law makes the free speech provisions of both the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and those of the Connecticut Constitution applicable to...more
In 2019, we reported on the case of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District involving a football coach at Bremerton High School in Washington state who was placed on administrative leave by his public school district for praying...more
Although it seems counterintuitive, we regularly run across situations where clients want to fire or demote an employee who recently received a promotion, stellar performance review, or some other kind of reward for good...more
Prior to the advent of social media, employers were generally comfortable drawing a bright line between what employees did on their own time and workplace misconduct. However, those bygone times have been replaced by a modern...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338 (2011), still lords over employment discrimination class actions nearly a decade later. Indeed, Nelson, et al. v. Pace...more
On June 5, 2020, the NLRB held, in Teamsters Local Union No. 735-S (Bemis Co., Inc.), 369 NLRB No. 97, that union officials’ retaliatory actions against members who participated in an investigation resulting in the discharge...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: When an employee violates company rules or policies, a company is within its rights to respond with appropriate corrective action. How to respond, however, can become complicated when an employee engages in...more
In a recent decision, the Appellate Court of Illinois rejected a school board’s decision to terminate a tenured teacher for misconduct despite a hearing officer’s finding that there was insufficient evidence of cause for...more
It's not what you know – dismissal for whistleblowing despite dismissing manager's belief - In Royal Mail Group Ltd v Jhuti the Supreme Court has reinstated a decision that an employee was dismissed because she had blown...more
The New Jersey Appellate Division recently affirmed a decision of the Civil Service Commission imposing a ten-day suspension on a Mercer County Correction Center (MCCC) Officer for failure to attend mandatory harassment...more
Two years after the #MeToo Movement made the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the workplace known worldwide, the Alberta Court of Appeal in Calgary (City) v. Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 37,...more
UK employers should proceed with caution when suspending employees, and always consider carefully whether taking such action is appropriate in the circumstances, as highlighted by the recent case in the Employment Appeal...more
In employment discrimination cases, when the plaintiff makes out a prima facie claim of bias, the employer must articulate legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for the action. The plaintiff then has the ultimate burden of...more
The Court of Appeal in the United Kingdom recently held that the dismissal of a nurse for improperly proselytising at work was fair (Kuteh v Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust)....more
Looking back – limited appeal investigation not unfair - It was not unfair for an employer to place limits on a disciplinary appeal investigation where the employee's representative had agreed to this, according to the EAT...more
Although many HR professionals in the United Kingdom who deal with disability discrimination issues are all too familiar with the legal definition of a “disability” in the Equality Act 2010, many are unaware of the various...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Judge v. Shikellamy Sch. Dist., No. 17-2189, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 27229 (3d Cir. Sep. 24, 2018), the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals adopted a new approach to constructive discharge cases where an employee...more