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Employee Rights Employment Litigation Adverse Employment Action

Most countries provide some degree of workplace protection for employees and job applicants. Depending on the jurisdiction, these protections generally include safety precautions and policies, anti-discrimination... more +
Most countries provide some degree of workplace protection for employees and job applicants. Depending on the jurisdiction, these protections generally include safety precautions and policies, anti-discrimination policies, collective bargaining and unionizing rights, meal and rest requirements, minimum wage rules, and medical and family leave rights to name a few. In the United States, the federal framework for employee rights stem from statutes such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In addition, employee rights statutes are implemented and enforced by regulatory authorities such as the EEOC, NLRB, OSHA, and the Department of Labor. Further, many state and local governments provide additional and localized protections for employees that are enforced by local regulatory entities. less -
Littler

Can an Employee Claim Retaliation for Whistleblowing When They Were Simply Doing Their Job?

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Assume the following, you ask your company’s in-house counsel to handle a highly sensitive matter involving bribery of foreign officials. The employee is given access to confidential attorney-client privileged information...more

Bodman

Supreme Court Eliminates “Background Circumstances” Test for Title VII Claims

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In a unanimous decision, the United States Supreme Court has formalized and affirmed the legal standard for employment discrimination claims for non-minority groups under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964....more

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

How Courts are Applying the “Some Harm” Standard Since Muldrow

More than a year has passed since the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in its April 2024 decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri, 601 U.S. 346, 144 S. Ct. 967, 218 L. Ed. 2d 322 (2024) that employees need only...more

Miller Canfield

No More Extra Hurdles: Court Strikes Down Title VII Bias Rule

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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against any individual based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. But does that protection apply equally to white, male, or...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Card-Holder Survives Employer’s Motion to Dismiss

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A recent opinion from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania serves a win to a medical marijuana card-holder who brought claims against an employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Pennsylvania Medical...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Three decisions provide cautions for employers who do business in the Bay State

Three recent court decisions provide important reminders for businesses with employees in Massachusetts. One involves application of the Massachusetts Wage Act to remote workers; one clarifies potential liability for...more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

PIP This: The Expansion of Actionable Adverse Employment Decisions in the Wake of Muldrow v. City of St. Louis

Over the course of the last year, employers have faced increased claims from employees testing what constitutes an actionable adverse action under the anti-discrimination provision of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964...more

McAfee & Taft

Can a non-disabled employee recover backpay under the ADA? At least one appeals court thinks so.

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In the brilliant 1993 movie The Fugitive, there is an iconic scene in which the wrongly accused Dr. Richard Kimble emphatically tells Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard, “I didn’t kill my wife!” Gerard responds, “I don’t...more

Venable LLP

Seventh Circuit Ruling Permits Back Pay for ADA Discrimination for Non-Disabled Workers

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Last month, in Nawara v. Cook County Municipality, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said a violation of ADA protections from medical examinations or inquiries counts as discrimination on account of disability, regardless...more

McGlinchey Stafford

Court Awards No Actual, Statutory, Reputational, or Punitive Damages for FCRA Violation in Wrongful Termination Suit

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Plaintiff brought action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia after being terminated by Defendant without receiving pre-adverse notice, in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)....more

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

Seventh Circuit Holds That Unlawful Medical Inquiries Trigger Claims Under the ADA for Non-Disabled Employees

On April 1, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (which has jurisdiction over Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin) issued a landmark ruling that could allow non-disabled workers to recover back pay under a...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

More Arrested Developments: Wisconsin Supreme Court Holds ‘Arrest Record’ Encompasses Noncriminal Civil Violations

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin recently provided significant guidance resolving uncertainty about the scope of the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act’s (WFEA) prohibition against discrimination based on an employee’s or...more

Woods Rogers

A Retaliation Refresher: What's the Tea in L&E?

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In this episode of What’s the Tea in L&E, Labor & Employment attorney Mike Gardner joins host Leah Stiegler to unpack the topic of workplace retaliation. Retaliation occurs when an employee faces negative consequences because...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Supreme Court Rules Lost Wages May Be Recoverable Under RICO For False Advertising After Drug Test Dismissal

On April 2, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a truck driver who lost his job after testing positive for marijuana may pursue claims for lost wages under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Time Was Not on Her Side: 5th Circuit Rules Unpaid Mentor’s Claim of Discrimination Is Untimely

In Title VII actions, plaintiffs have a limited amount of time to file a charge of discrimination (or a court can dismiss the case as untimely). In the case of Wells v. Texas Tech University, the timeliness dynamic was...more

Weintraub Tobin

You Can’t Make Me Go to that Meeting! CA Law Prohibits Adverse Action Against Employees Who Refuse to Go to Certain Meetings

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If you followed California’s 2024 Legislative term, you know that Senate Bill 399 (“SB 399”) was passed and signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 27, 2024. For the most part, SB 399 has been described as a new...more

Littler

British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal Finds Employer Discriminated Against Transgender Employee Based on Their Gender Identity...

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In Nelson v. Goodberry Restaurant Group Ltd. dba Buono Osteria and others, 2021 BCHRT 137, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal found that a restaurant and its managers that refused to use a server’s pronouns, among...more

Littler

Nevada Supreme Court Affirms Termination for Off-Duty Recreational Marijuana Use

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Ending years of discussion about the scope of state law employment protections for individuals who use marijuana recreationally, the Nevada Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss a complaint by an...more

Littler

British Columbia, Canada: Arbitrator Decides Employer Could Terminate Employee Who Refused Government-Ordered Vaccination

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On April 4, 2022, in Fraser Health Authority v British Columbia General Employees’ Union, 2022 CanLII 25560, Arbitrator Koml Kandola of the British Columbia Labour Relations Board dismissed the union’s grievance respecting...more

Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Finds that Employees Cannot be Terminated Merely for Filing a Rebuttal to a Personnel Record

On December 17, 2021, Meehan v. Medical Information Technology, Inc., the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (“SJC”) held that an employee’s filing a rebuttal to information placed in their personnel file that could...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules in Favor of Worker Fired for Rebutting Negative Performance Improvement Plan

On December 17, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that an employee discharged for submitting a written rebuttal to his employer in response to the placement of negative information in his personnel...more

Littler

Pennsylvania Appeals Court Determines State’s Medical Marijuana Act Includes a Private Right of Action for Employees

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In a case of first impression, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania has determined that employees can sue their employers for claims under the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act (MMA).  Palmiter v. Commonwealth Health Sys.,...more

Littler

NJ Supreme Court Holds Medical Marijuana Use Outside of the Workplace is Protected Under State Law and Employers are Required to...

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Resolving prior uncertainty regarding the impact of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (CUMMA) on employees’ employment rights, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently held that employees can maintain an...more

FordHarrison

New Jersey's Supreme Court Upholds Reinstatement of Medical Cannabis User's Claim Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination

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On March 10, 2020, the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed the reinstatement of a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by a medical cannabis cardholder against his former employer, after he was fired for failing a...more

Jackson Walker

Is There Anything Improper About Taking a Vacation During FMLA Leave?

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While posting vacation photos on Facebook during a leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is probably not a stellar idea, the question of whether an employee can take a vacation during FMLA leave may not be so...more

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