Blog Posts: Taking Care of HR Business
Visit the Full BlogHuman resource professionals, supervisors, and company executives alike face a constantly changing and evolving legal landscape. Verrill's Taking Care of HR Business blog is here to keep you up to date on the newest and most important legal developments for employers.
Policy to “Conduct only . . . business while at work” Found to Violate NLRA
The Casino Pauma expects employees to work while at work—a concept that is not foreign to many of us. In fact, they put the expectation into writing and placed in their employee handbook a clause which provided: "Team members are to conduct only Casino Pauma business while at work...
The Power Struggle is Real: Local Minimum Wages Battle State Minimum Wages and How Dillon’s Rule Affects the Playing Field
Municipalities all across the country have dived into the employment arena in the past few years. In an April 2016 publication by the National Employment Law Project, it was reported that 51 municipalities across the country have either passed or currently have pending, proposals to raise the minimum wage...
“Capturing” the Affect of Pokemon Go in the Office
This is reality. This is not a test. There are Pokémon in your office. Well, maybe; it's more like there are not real Pokémon chilling outside your door, but more that in an augmented reality there are graphical elements placed within your real world. The thing is, either way...
OSHA Ignites Firework of a Penalty Hike Prior to Independence Day
Late last week, while everyone was focused on the summer holiday, the Department of Labor announced that pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvement Act, OSHA's maximum penalties, which have not been raised since 1990, will increase by 78 percent. This will increase the "serious", "other-than-serious"...
Is “Boy, you need to pray” Comment to Biscuit Maker A Violation of Title VII?
The EEOC continues its push to recognize job protection for LGBT workers under Title VII. On Wednesday, the EEOC filed a lawsuit against Bojangles Restaurants Inc. alleging that the restaurant chain discriminated and retaliated against former employee Jonathan Wolfe. The Complaint alleges Wolfe, who was transitioning from male to...
Service Advisor Question Sent Back to Ninth Circuit
The Supreme Court issued its decision today in Encino MotorCars, LLC v. Navarro . A background of the case is available here , but the question at issue was whether service advisors at car dealerships are exempt from the FLSA's overtime pay requirements. Reversing the Court of Appeals decision...
Post-It Up or Pay It Up: The Double-It Year Continues
You know how we harp on the easy things? Like having all the required state and federal posting requirements hung in a place where employees can easily find them? This serves as just another friendly reminder that those postings are important. Prior to 2014, the maximum penalty for failing...
Beer Distributor Appeals NLRB Finding as to Terminated Union Employee Who Reeked of Marijuana
Appellate briefing to the Second Circuit was completed earlier this week in Manhattan Beer Distributors LLC v. NLRB , a case in which the NLRB, in 2015, held that Manhattan Beer Distributors violated an employee's Weingarten rights when they terminated a distribution employee who "reeked" of marijuana after he...
Final FLSA Overtime Rule: Guidance for Non-Profit Employers and Board Members
You likely received notice that the U.S. Department of Labor released its final overtime regulations on May 18. Many non-profits will now be required to take steps to revise their pay practices and work distribution. This poses difficulties for non-profits of all sizes, including those that are funded by...
White Collar Salary Increase Update #1
BNA Bloomberg is currently reporting that yesterday word was leaked from a Washington staffer that the DOL white collar salary threshold will be in the $47,000 per year range—as opposed to the $50,440, which has been proposed. The $47,000 range is still almost double the current $23,660 level. Reports...
Dude, I Think He’s High…Can I Fire Him?
Oftentimes clients ask, "When we think an employee is high, can we fire him?" My answer is consistently the same, "That depends." It depends on a whole host of factors, what state do you live in, what industry do you work in, why do you think he's high, but...
Hospital Shows Undue Hardship in Permitting Employee who Refused Influenza Vaccination to Maintain Patient-Care Position
Earlier this month, a District of Massachusetts court issued an opinion which held in part that that a hospital's refusal to permit an employee to maintain a patient-care position after refusing an influenza vaccination on account of religious beliefs was proper. The plaintiff in the matter was an administrative...
Don't Try This at Home...Well Soon You Can: Arizona's Workplace Pot-Luck Law (a.k.a. A Blog Post on Legalizing Potlucks...Not Pot)
So often we post about the affects of the legalization of marijuana (a.k.a. "pot") in the workplace, but today's post is a bit different; today we focus on the rules and regulations surrounding potlucks in the workplace, or at least potlucks in Arizona. Arizona Revised Statute § 36-136 provides...
White Collar Salary Level Update: Maine Senator Angus King Weighs In
MaineBiz reports that yesterday U.S. Senator Angus King wrote a letter to the Office of Management and Budget voicing his concerns on the DOL's proposed increase in the overtime threshold. More information regard the increase is available here and here.
Obesity and the ADA: Does 33% of the U.S. Population Have ADA Protection as a Result of Obesity?
Yesterday, the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion in Morriss v. BNSF Railway Co. , No. 14-3858 (April 5, 2016), rejecting the plaintiff's argument that obesity (in and of itself) is sufficient to maintain an ADA claim. The Eighth Circuit joins the Sixth Circuit and the Second Circuit in coming...
Female Who Keeps Position Plus Male Who Loses Position Equals Discrimination Claim Surviving Motion to Dismiss
Last month, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Michigan denied the U.S. Postal Service's Motion to Dismiss a claim of sex, military, and disability discrimination. The claim was premised on the allegation of a former employee who claimed he was fired when he became ineligible for a...
Take Your Child to Work Day (or Year) and the White Sox
Father and Son and Baseball is like . . . well it's actually not like anything else, it is America. Have you seen #FamilyFirst and the publicity that has accompanied Adam LaRoche's decision to leave the White Sox? If not, you can catch up here . How, you're asking...
Sports, Beer, and Work
We laugh about employee engagement and productivity on the day after the Super Bowl; we joke about productivity on Black Friday; welcome today to a similar situation—when March Madness begins and drinking is abound. Should we celebrate the combination of the two dates, with the ever-optimistic view that now...
More Starch in the White Collar Exemption
Previously, we published a blog post on the DOL's 2015 proposal to more than double the threshold under which salaried exempt employees are eligible for overtime payment. The proposal raises the salary threshold from $23,660 per year to $50,440. The Department of Labor received almost 300,000 comments on the...
Mandated Paid Sick Leave Will Start Flowing in the Sugar Maple State in 2017
Yesterday, March 9, 2016, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed into law a bill that will require paid sick leave to be offered to an estimated 60,000 workers throughout the state. The Governor noted that the "law will provide dignity for employees, a more productive workforce for employers, and a...
Let’s Talk about Sex(ual Orientation) Lawsuits under Federal Law
The last few weeks have been filled with filings and decisions in federal courts across the country regarding sexual orientation as a basis for a Title VII lawsuit. On March 1, 2016, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed its first sexual orientation discrimination claims in Pittsburg...
While There WAS No "I" in Defendant, There Is Now: New Hampshire Supreme Court Finds Individual Liability in State Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Retaliation Statutes
Earlier this week the New Hampshire Supreme Court issued a decision in EEOC v. Fred Fuller Oil Company, Inc. , finding that New Hampshire's anti-discrimination statute imposes individual employee liability for aiding and abetting in discrimination in the workplace and that New Hampshire's anti-retaliation statute similarly imposes individual employee...
Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Greeting Card Giant Settles Class Action Suit
Last week American Greeting Corporation settled a wage and hour class action under the FLSA and California state wage and hour laws in Smith v. American Greetings Corp. , No. 3:14cv02577 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 29, 2016). Additionally Plaintiffs brought claims under the California Private Attorneys General Act which permits...
EEOC Builds Off of "Rosebud" Momentum Seeking Extensive Pay Data
Today the EEOC announced proposed changes to the EEO-1 form that will affect federal contractors and all employers who employ over 100 individuals. The proposal (available here ) would require employers to provide wage data for employees falling into 10 job categories with the requirement that employers identify gender...
Supreme Court to Review “Service Advisors” Entitlement to Overtime
On Friday, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case where it will determine "whether 'service advisors' at car dealerships are exempt . . . from the FLSA's overtime pay requirements." Up for review is the Ninth Circuit's decision in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro , No...
Is This Mic On?: NLRB Finds Whole Foods Policy Has Chilling Effect
Recently, the National Labor Relations Board reviewed upscale grocer Whole Foods' policy within its General Information Guide ("GIG") which banned employees' from recording in the workplace without prior management approval. Specifically the policy provided: In order to encourage open communication, free exchange of ideas, spontaneous and honest dialogue and...
Tractor Supply Co. Plowing New Terrain in Medical Marijuana Law
Last week, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico issued a memorandum and order granting Tractor Supply Company's Motion to Dismiss in Garcia v. Tractor Supply Co . The Plaintiff, Rojerio Garcia, suffers from HIV/AIDS and was using medical marijuana under the Lynn and Erin...
Employers Should Use Fall Protection When Maneuvering Around Eleventh Circuit’s OSHA Supervisor Liability Standard
Last week, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission holding that an employer was liable for an incident involving a supervisor working beside an employee who was seen not using fall protection. In Quinlan Enterprises v. DOL the question before the court...
Refusal of Employee’s Request for “Peaceful Calm Environment” Does Not Constitute Failure to Accommodate Under the ADA
Last week Judge Joseph N. Laplante of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire issued a decision in Posteraro v. RBS Citizens, N.A. , Civil No. 13-cv-416 (D.N.H. Dec. 29, 2015), on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. The case involved a former Citizens Bank employee...
Come All Ye Faithful: Catholic School Receives Coal for Christmas in Recent Massachusetts Ruling
Last week, a Massachusetts state court ruled on a motion for summary judgment finding that an all-girls Catholic School (Fontbonne Academy in Milton, Massachusetts) had violated Matthew Barrett's civil rights when it withdrew a job offer after Barrett listed his husband as his emergency contact person on the school's...
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