How Not to Handle a “Jezebel Spirit”
The answer is fairly obvious: don't refer to someone as having a Jezebel Spirit. If this happens, however, and an employee can't help but make the reference, pray (literally and figuratively) that it is not a manager. Last month, Lisa McKinley filed a lawsuit against the Salvation Army in...
Wacky Wednesday: “Devious Defecator” Problem Does Not Release Employer From GINA Obligations
On Monday, jurors awarded Plaintiffs Jack Lowe and Dennis Reynolds $2.25 million dollars in a GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act) action brought against their employer, Atlas Logistics Group Retail Services. The background facts reveal that supervisors became frustrated trying to figure out who was leaving piles of feces around...
Is Honesty the Best Policy? EEOC Alleges Honesty Policy Violates ADA
Our parents consistently told us honesty was the best policy. Being honest with the people you interact with, whether, socially, romantically, or professionally, often creates the healthiest relationships in the long run; the EEOC may, however, disagree with me. The EEOC recently sued Aurora Health Care Inc. in the...
Father-Daughter Dance Against Connecticut Wedding Caterer/Event Venue Results in Significant Personal Liability to Business Owners
As we near Father's Day, Ferguson v. Fairfield Caterers, Inc. , serves as an appropriate case to remind employers of the many facets of a retaliation claim—including the personal liability that attaches. Kelli Ferguson and her father worked for Defendant until early 2010. Ferguson's father, Kevin Heslin managed wedding...
High Court Demands Higher Obligation When Dealing With Highest Power: EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc.
Today the Supreme Court issued a decision in the highly anticipated case of EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch. Background on the case is available, as is access to the "look policy" which we originally discussed. The question before the Court involved whether the employer or the employee had an...
It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Files a Class Action
Last week a class action was filed against restaurant chain Dave & Buster's Inc. accusing the restaurant of decreasing employee hours to avoid providing health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The action has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under...
April Showers Brought May Flowers and A Host of Employment Action in New England
New England administrative agencies and courts have sprung into spring with a litany of action last week that will affect New England employers. Here's the run-down: Connecticut : Last week the Connecticut Assembly passed a measure that would bar Connecticut employers from requiring employees or applicants to provide access...
Maine Labor Committee Rejects Right-to-Work Bill
Maine will not become the first state in the Northeast to pass a right-to-work law. Yesterday , law makers in Augusta on the Legislature's Labor Committee voted 7-6 to recommend that the full Legislature kill the bill. Right-to-work laws guarantee that employees who work in a unionized environment not...
SHOW ME THE MONEY....At the Right Time and In the Appropriate Form, Please
Wage payment and the laws that regulate it are important to your business. Making sure you can cover payroll each month is extremely important to most small businesses, as is making sure that no liability is created in how those wages are paid. The last few weeks have brought...
Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys...Let'em be Doctors or Lawyers and Such
Why are we doctors or lawyers or other such professionals? We're analytical and creative, persistent and interpersonal. Where did we get these skills? Look at what your mom has done to develop these skills from an early age through college. Most of us came of age when our mothers...
Theater Thursday: Pumbaa and Other Cast Members Have Hakuna Matata
Earlier this week an arbitrator ordered that three performers who wore character costumes in the "Festival of the Lion King" at Disney's Animal Kingdom be reinstated after they were terminated in June 2014 for complaining about the unsanitary conditions of the costumes. The performers claimed they were terminated without...
Legislative Update: Maine’s “Retail Workers Bill of Rights”
For all our friends and colleagues in the hospitality and retail sectors of the Maine economy, please be mindful of two pending pieces of legislation in Augusta that could affect minimum standards as to pay and work schedules for Maine employers in the retail industry. Read more here...
You Accommodate Your Employees, But Do They Accommodate Your Customers?
Late last month we posted on Indiana's "Religious Freedom" bill. Since then, the bill has been amended and states (including Maine ) with similar pending legislation have reconsidered the propriety of such legislation. Additionally, recently the New York Times published an article focusing on delays and disruptions that were/are...
Sixth Circuit’s Panel Decision Isn’t Built Ford Tough
Earlier this month, the Sixth Circuit issued an en banc decision in the EEOC v. Ford Motor Co. matter concerning the ADA and telecommuting; finding that telecommuting up to four days a week was not a reasonable accommodation. We have been following the opinion both initially and when the...
Manic Monday: Who’s the Boss?
Last week, the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied, in part, the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System's Motion for Summary judgment in a racially hostile work environment claim. The plaintiff, Kevin Knudsen, brought a reverse race discrimination claim arguing that the Board...
The Meaning of “Rosebud” Isn’t Just a Citizen Kane Issue Anymore: EEOC Suit Without An Aggrieved Individual Survives Motion to Dismiss
On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that the EEOC does not have to identify any specifically aggrieved individual to pursue a race bias lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The case, EEOC v. Rosebud Restaurants, Inc. , alleges that...
President Obama Quickly Vetoes Congressional Attempt to Overturn NLRB “Quickie Election” Rule
Late last year we posted on the NLRB's finalized rules governing union election procedures which shortened the time period for employers to educate its workforces about the pros and cons of unionization. In response, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 232-186 to use the rarely exercised Congressional Review Act...
Nine Months Later Supreme Court "Delivers"
Yesterday the Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated opinion on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in Young v. UPS vacating the Fourth Circuit's (and District Court's) grant of summary judgment in favor of the employer, UPS. We've previously discussed the background of the case here and here , but for our...
Indiana Discrimination Bill: A Higher Law?
By now you've likely heard about the "Indiana Discrimination Bill" that passed through the Indiana legislature on Monday after a vote of 63-31 . The Religious Freedom Restoration Act has been described as allowing any individual or corporation to cite their religious beliefs as a defense when sued by...
Madness or Badness: Is Your Office NCAA Pool Illegal?
It doesn't matter whether you know a basketball from a hockey puck or a three-point play from a five course meal, every March, office works across the country dutifully fill out their NCAA basketball tournament pool brackets, kick in five dollars, and hope against hope that their months-long lack...
UPCOMING SEMINAR/WEBINAR: The (F)riday (M)onday (L)eave (A)ct vs. Legitimate FMLA Leave
The serious health condition of an employee or his or her family member may entitle the employee to protected leave under either the state or federal Family and Medical Leave Act. But how do you manage this leave? Or, once you've figured out how to manage the leave, what...
Who Signed that Doctor's Note?
The 8th Circuit recently held that the FLSA's "continuing treatment" requirement means more than just walking into a clinic and leaving with a prescription. In Johnson v. Wheeling Mach, Prods. (8th Cir. No. 13-3786 Feb. 20, 2015) the employer terminated the Plaintiff after violations of the company attendance policy...
Fourth Circuit Affirm’s Exclusion of EEOC’s “Cherry-Picked” Data in Background Check Suit
Approximately 18 months ago we discussed the United States District Court for the District of Maryland's ruling that the EEOC had failed to show that an event-planning company's use of criminal background checks, as well as credit checks, resulted in a disparate impact against male and black applicants. On...
Balancing Religious Rights and Fashion: The High Court Debates Abercrombie’s Look Policy
Yesterday the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., No. 14-86, a case previously discussed here , which seeks guidance from the Court as to whether job applicants must provide direct, explicit notice of their religious practices before an employer's accommodation...
Teamsters “Liking” First Labor Contract for Facebook Drivers
Facebook Inc.'s shuttle bus drivers voted on Saturday, February 21, to ratify a labor contract that would increase hourly pay and benefits in their positions as well as address split-shift scheduling. Approximately 87 International Brotherhood of Teamsters members ratified the labor contract in a unanimous vote. The Agreement will...
Falling Prices, Rising Wages: Wal-Mart Announces $9.00 an Hour Minimum Pay Scale
Wal-Mart Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon announced last week that in April Wal-Mart will pay its employees a minimum of $9.00 an hour—$1.75 more than the current federal minimum wage of $7.25. Going a step further, by February of 2016, Wal-Mart has announced that its lowest hourly rate of...
“Tie Up” Your Employee Policies to Guard Against “Grey” Areas of Liability
Last week Representative Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives H.R. 901, "The Eliminating Pornography From Agencies Act," an Act with the purpose of prohibiting the accessing of pornographic web sites from federal computers and for other purposes. While the Act was likely introduced in response...
Wacky Wednesday: Fear and Loathing in Elementary Education
Last week, the Sixth Circuit ruled that a former Ohio public school teacher who was suffering from pedophobia (the fear of young children), had not presented an Americans with Disabilities Act or Age Discrimination Claim. The Plaintiff requested the school district accommodate Plaintiff's disability, pedophobia, by transferring her from...
She’s Not a Beauty School Drop Out But She Could Be Creating A Cut and Color FLSA Nightmare
Earlier this week a District Court judge in the District of Nevada denied Defendants' Motion to Dismiss in an FLSA class action lawsuit. The case, Guy v. Casal Institute of Nevada , stems from allegations by the plaintiff that while attending a for-profit cosmetology and esthetics services school "which...
Manic Monday: Michigan Pre-Emptively “Tackles” the Unionized College Athlete Issue
On December 30, 2014, Governor Rick Snyder signed legislation (H.B. 6074) that excludes public college and university athletes in Michigan from the definition of "public employees" entitled to collectively bargain under Michigan law—thus effectively barring them from unionizing. The law's purpose was to ensure "that college athletes are students...
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