News & Analysis as of August 16, 2025

Corporate Counsel

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Hiring & Firing refers to the process of recruiting, interviewing and offering employment and the process of evaluating performance and dismissing employees. Hiring & Firing is a highly regulated area and can create tremendous liability for employers who fail to properly adhere to acceptable employment practices. Some of the potential pitfalls in this area stem from discriminatory hiring practices, improper performance evaluations, and retaliatory firings. less -

From Accommodation to Termination: What Employers Need to Know About Navigating Indefinite Leave

Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP on 8/14/2025

When an employee requests extended medical leave, employers often wonder how long they must wait before it is no longer “reasonable.” The Fourth Circuit recently addressed this in Coffman v. Nexstar Media, offering clarity on...more

Can you take action against an employee for being a pain in the you-know-what?

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 4/17/2025

At least one court says yes. True confession: When I was a little future lawyer, I was sometimes a pain. (So, Robin, you’re saying your personality hasn't changed in all these years?) When I was being especially “high...more

White Employee Fired Amidst Corporate Diversity Initiative Wins Discrimination Claim But Loses Multi-Million Dollar Punitive...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 3/21/2024

Plaintiff, a white man, was a strong performer in his role before he was fired and replaced by three women, two of whom were racial minorities, amid a Diversity and Inclusion initiative that included a call to restructure the...more

SCOTUS Predictions: Justices Will Say Lateral Job Transfers Can Be Unlawful - But Ruling Will Be Limited

Fisher Phillips on 1/18/2024

The Supreme Court may soon clarify whether an employer’s decision to transfer an employee to a lateral job – with no change in pay or benefits – violates federal civil rights law if it’s done for discriminatory reasons....more

Eleventh Circuit Holds FMLA Retaliation Requires “But-for” Showing

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 1/11/2024

Seyfarth Synopsis: The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision that “but-for” is the proper causation standard for FMLA retaliation claims addressed within the...more

Can a Lateral Job Transfer Ever Be Discriminatory? Supreme Court Will Soon Weigh In

Fisher Phillips on 10/6/2023

When is a job transfer not just a transfer? The Supreme Court will soon decide whether lateral job transfers, with no change in pay or benefits, violates federal civil rights law if done for discriminatory reasons. Read on...more

EEOC Brings Claim for Teacher Whose Daughter Has a Disability: 5 Answers for Employers About Association-Based Bias

Fisher Phillips on 10/3/2023

A recent lawsuit against a private school focuses on a lesser-known aspect of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and serves as a reminder that the law also protects employees and job applicants who have a relationship...more

Fifth Circuit Upends 30 Years of Title VII Precedent, Making it Easier for Employees to Bring Discrimination Claims

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 8/22/2023

Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upended longstanding, employer-friendly precedent in cases brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. For decades, an employment discrimination plaintiff in the Fifth...more

SCOTUS 2023 Lookback and 2024 Preview: 7 Critical Decisions All Employers Should Review and 3 New Cases to Track

Fisher Phillips on 7/27/2023

The Supreme Court’s blockbuster decisions last term dominated the headlines – and many rulings will have a lasting impact on employer practices. The Justices continued to shape the workplace law landscape by ruling on an...more

EEOC Issues Guidance on Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools in Employment Selection Procedures Under Title VII

Littler on 5/18/2023

On May 18, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or “the Commission”), the federal agency charged with administering federal civil rights laws (including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans...more

Smucker’s Vax Mandate Stands, Federal Court of Appeals Hands Broad Win to Federal Contractors

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on 4/26/2023

Private companies doing business with the federal government won a major COVID-19-related victory recently when the Sixth Circuit held in Ciraci v. J.M. Smucker’s Co. that government contractors are not subject to...more

Second Circuit Rejects Claim of Employee Fired for Refusing to Attend Training Session on LGBTQ Bias

Littler on 3/17/2023

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has rejected an employee’s claim that he was unlawfully discriminated against based on religion after he refused to attend mandatory LGBTQ anti-discrimination trainings. In...more

First Circuit Upholds Employer’s Win in Retaliation Suit

Epstein Becker & Green on 11/14/2022

On November 1, 2022, in Dusel v. Factory Mutual Ins. Co., the First Circuit Court of Appeals held that “close temporal proximity” alone does not establish pretext as this evidence “must be considered alongside the . . ....more

Top 10 List – Keep Your Eyes on These California Employment Bills on Governor Newsom’s Desk

Fisher Phillips on 9/2/2022

Eight months of legislative wrangling and dealmaking have come to an end as the California Legislature just wrapped up work for the year – and now employers across the Golden State turn their eyes to the governor’s office to...more

District of Columbia Provides Employment Protections to Cannabis Users

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 8/22/2022

The District of Columbia legalized cannabis for medicinal purposes in 2010 and began to permit individuals to use the drug recreationally in 2015. Last month, on July 13, 2022, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the...more

Employee with Mild Symptoms of COVID-19 Was Not “Disabled” Under California Law

Proskauer - California Employment Law on 5/26/2022

In Michelle Roman v. Hertz Local Edition Corp., a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of Hertz, and against former employee Michelle Roman, whose...more

Federal Appeals Court Sides with Employer in Job Applicant’s Background Check Suit: 3 Steps to Avoid Similar Claims

Fisher Phillips on 5/18/2022

A job applicant who didn’t disclose a felony conviction can’t sue her prospective employer under a federal background-check law for failing to provide proper notice before rescinding her offer, according to a recent decision...more

UK: Automatically Unfair COVID Dismissals

Littler on 1/27/2022

As expected, in the United Kingdom there has been an increase in employees seeking to bring claims of automatic unfair dismissal where they have been dismissed for...more

Federal Court Allows COVID-Based Disability Discrimination Lawsuit to Proceed

Fisher Phillips on 10/7/2021

A federal court in Pennsylvania recently refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that an employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by firing a worker because she tested positive for COVID-19. Notably, the...more

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

Littler on 8/20/2021

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

11th Circuit Finds Employee Conduct May Lead to Termination Even Where the Conduct is the Result of Mental Illness

Littler on 6/7/2021

On May 27, 2021, in Todd v. Fayette County School District, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the propriety of a school district’s decision to end a mentally ill...more

50 State Update On Pending Legislation Pertaining To Employer-Mandated Vaccinations

Husch Blackwell LLP on 3/5/2021

Per recent federal employment law guidance, private employers can generally require employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as long as they comply with federal employment laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of...more

NLRB: Employer’s Good-Faith Belief in Employee’s Misconduct Insufficient to Justify Terminating Employee Engaged in Protected...

Proskauer - Labor Relations Update on 12/15/2020

As we have often discussed, there is a fine line between protected and unprotected activity. Profane outbursts, deliberate misconduct, or highly-disruptive strikes may fall outside the protection of the NLRA, subjecting...more

Ontario, Canada: Human Rights Tribunal Awards Significant Damages to Employee Who Acquiesced to Sexual Relationship with...

Littler on 10/27/2020

In NK v. Botuik, 2020 HRTO 345, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) made a $170,000 damage award to a vulnerable employee who, after being sexually harassed by her direct supervisor, engaged in unwelcome sexual...more

France Requires Employers to Investigate Harassment Claims Even Without Evidence

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 8/12/2020

French employers are now obligated to investigate any allegation of harassment, even where the employee does not produce any evidence. This is the position taken by the French Cour de Cassation in November 27, 2019, case...more

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