News & Analysis as of

Employment Litigation Public Policy

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

No wrongful discharge claim based on exercise of rights under state Constitution, Tennessee high court says

The Tennessee Supreme Court has recently held that there is no legal claim for wrongful discharge where an employer terminates an employee because the employee exercised a right set forth in the state Constitution. The...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

Tennessee Supreme Court Holds that Petitioning the State Government is Not Conduct Protected by the Common Law Tort of Retaliatory...

A recent Tennessee Supreme Court decision has addressed a matter of first impression after years of contentious debate regarding employer COVID-19 vaccination policies for employees. Heather Smith (Smith) filed a lawsuit...more

Stevens & Lee

Third Circuit Predicts No Private Right of Action for Denied Job Applicants Under New Jersey Cannabis Law

Stevens & Lee on

On Dec. 9, 2024, a divided panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a class action lawsuit by New Jersey job applicants denied employment by Walmart because they tested positive for cannabis. The...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

President Trump’s Shake-Up of Federal Enforcement Agencies Continues with Big Changes to the EEOC

Last week, as part of a major shake-up of the federal government’s enforcement agencies, President Trump made three major changes to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), all of which will cause a major shift in...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

Fourth Circuit Determines that Internal Complaint May Support Claim for Wrongful Discharge in Violation of North Carolina Public...

On August 14, 2024, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion reversing a prior decision of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina regarding wrongful discharge under North Carolina law....more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

SuperVision - Labor and Employment Law Insights, Issue 3, September 2024

Welcome to the fall issue of SuperVision, our labor and employment e-newsletter. In this edition, we cover the current status of the FTC’s attempts to ban noncompetes, OSHA’s proposed heat standard, how to handle political...more

Benesch

First Circuit Declines to Enforce California’s Out-of-State Noncompete Ban

Benesch on

On September 26, 2024, a Boston-based federal appeals court refused to extend California’s sweeping noncompete ban to agreements that were signed outside the state and governed by another state’s law....more

Dickinson Wright

The Michigan Supreme Court Expands Public Policy Causes of Action for Retaliatory Discharge

Dickinson Wright on

Under Michigan’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (“MiOSHA”), employers may not “discharge an employee or in any manner discriminate against an employee because the employee filed a complaint” regarding the employer’s...more

Mandelbaum Barrett PC

New Jersey Supreme Court Invalidates Non-Disparagement Provision Against Alleged Victim of Discrimination and Harassment

Mandelbaum Barrett PC on

In Savage v. Township of Neptune, et al., (A-2-23, decided May 7, 2024), the New Jersey Supreme Court analyzed and invalidated a non-disparagement provision included in a settlement agreement against a plaintiff alleging...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Finds Internal Complaint About Care Recommendations Supports Wrongful Discharge Claim

North Carolina is an at-will employment state, but recognizes a limited exception from that rule for terminations that violate the state’s public policy. Courts have wrestled for years over the meaning of public policy and...more

Clark Hill PLC

Colorado Court of Appeals Adopts Definition of “Actual Discharge” Applied by Federal Courts in Colorado Employment Law Wrongful...

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In a case of first impression in Colorado, the Colorado Court of Appeals adopts a test for evaluating a claim of actual discharge under Colorado law. In this Colorado employment law case, Plaintiff ex-employee, Ms. Potts,...more

Saiber LLC

New Jersey Supreme Court Holds That Non-Disparagement Provisions Seeking to Preclude Discussion About Claims of Discrimination,...

Saiber LLC on

In a recent unanimous decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that non-disparagement provisions in settlement agreements or employment agreements are against public policy and unenforceable if they seek to bar speech...more

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

California Holds Employers Have No Duty to Protect Employees’ Households from COVID-19

The California Supreme Court has answered in the negative the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ certified question regarding “take-home” COVID-19 exposure (see Federal Appeals Court Asks California If Covid-19 “Take Home” Suits...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

The Doctrine of “Wrongful Discharge in Violation of Public Policy” Takes Flight Again in Decision of the Connecticut Supreme Court

On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, the Connecticut Supreme Court announced a significant new decision concerning lawsuits by employees alleging “wrongful discharge in violation of public policy.”  Most employers in Connecticut are...more

Bodman

Employers Beware! Michigan Supreme Court Clarifies and Expands Public-Policy Exception to At-Will Employment Presumption

Bodman on

On July 15, 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court clarified and, arguably, expanded the public-policy exception to the well-established at-will employment presumption in Michigan. Although the case may conclude differently after...more

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

Wyoming Supreme Court Eliminates the Blue Pencil Rule for Noncompete Agreements

On February 25, 2022, the Wyoming Supreme Court issued a decision prohibiting courts from revising, or “blue penciling,” noncompete agreements to be reasonable and enforceable under the law. The decision overrules the Wyoming...more

McAfee & Taft

Home Depot employee’s wrongful discharge claim hammered

McAfee & Taft on

Under some circumstances, Oklahoma law recognizes that terminated employees may pursue a public policy wrongful discharge claim against a former employer. These claims allow a narrow exception to the employment at-will status...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Adds New Personnel Records Wrinkle to Public Policy Exception to Termination of At-Will...

A recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the “SJC”) significantly expanded the Massachusetts common-law public policy exception to termination of at-will employees.  This decision, Meehan v. Med. Info....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

Littler on

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

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

Pennsylvania Court Holds Medical Marijuana Act Allows Employees to Sue for Discrimination

On August 5, 2021, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania held for the first time that Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act (MMA) allows an employee to sue his or her employer for taking an adverse employment action based on the...more

Miller Canfield

6th Circuit Clarifies Opposition Clause of Title VII - Performance of Regular Job Duties as Protected Activity

Miller Canfield on

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits retaliation against employees because they either oppose discriminatory actions (the "Opposition Clause") or because of their participation in an investigation, proceeding, or...more

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

Massachusetts Appeals Court Reinforces Narrow Interpretation of Public Policy Exception to At-Will Employment

On January 20, 2021, an expanded five-judge panel of the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued its opinion in Terence Meehan v. Medical Information Technology, Inc., No. 19-P-1412, and affirmed a lower court decision granting...more

Carlton Fields

New Jersey District Court Rejects Challenge to Arbitration Award on the Basis of Public Policy

Carlton Fields on

The petitioner challenged an arbitration award on the basis that it conflicted with public policy. “[T]he Third Circuit has explained that this exception does not … sanction a broad judicial power to set aside arbitration...more

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