Employment lawyers always win war story contests at cocktail parties. Facts like the ones in Davis v. ULP provide ample fodder for those type of conversations.
Performance Problems or Age Discrimination?
The...more
Does a plaintiff have to specify not only the facts but also the law that applies? In Bye v. MGM Resorts, Inc., the Fifth Circuit looks at a common pleading issue: What do you do when a plaintiff pleads facts that may or may...more
In our modern world of a booming CBD industry and an increasing number of states that have legalized marijuana, can you terminate an employee for a positive drug test for marijuana? What if the test shows marijuana...more
4/6/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
State and Local Government ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination
In another chapter in litigation alliteration, in Maner v. Dignity Health, f/k/a Catholic Healthcare West, the Ninth Circuit held that a male employee’s theory that his supervisor’s long-term romantic relationship with a...more
9/9/2021
/ Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Preferred Treatment ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Workplace Romances
One of the essential factors for plaintiffs in discrimination cases can be showing that they were treated differently than a similarly situated co-worker — the inference being that they were treated differently because of...more
Add this case to your “Be Sure to Document Your Non-Discriminatory Reasons” file. An employee doing bad things lost on summary judgment in an employment discrimination action, even though she alleged that the company did not...more
11/1/2019
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Appeals ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Evidence ,
Failure to Investigate ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Summary Judgment
Sometimes employment laws can make the common person’s head spin. That certainly could be the case for a recent Fifth Circuit opinion examining the “highly compensated” regulatory exemption from the overtime requirements of...more
9/5/2019
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Salary ,
Over-Time ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Employment law is full of burden-shifting, prima facie standards and evidentiary hurdles. Sometimes, even the courts apply the wrong standard at the wrong stage of a case. That appears to be what happened in the case of...more
5/23/2019
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Discovery ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Evidentiary Standards ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Pleading Standards ,
Reversal ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII
In Wittmer v. Phillips 66, Judge James Ho of the Fifth Circuit wasted no time stating the Fifth Circuit’s position on whether sexual orientation or transgender status are protected classes under Title VII – they are not....more
2/15/2019
/ Appeals ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interviews ,
Job Applicants ,
LGBTQ ,
Misrepresentation ,
Protected Class ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Not all requests for accommodation or FMLA leave will fit into neat boxes like “pregnancy” or “knee surgery.” Because the ADA definition of a disability includes any impairment that affects a major life function, employers...more
1/7/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interactive Process ,
Leave of Absence ,
Mental Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Traveling Employee
Many employers have progressive discipline policies. Are they always followed? Probably not. Should they be? Absolutely, and Lindeman v. St. Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, a recent case in the Eighth Circuit, demonstrates...more
“You have to show up for work—it’s a part of your job.” Attendance at the workplace is an essential work function in an ADA case. But is it really anymore? With technology, some would argue that many jobs can be done from...more
7/20/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Attendance ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interactive Process ,
Job Descriptions ,
Job Duties ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reversal ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment ,
Work Schedules
If an employee gets a doctor’s note saying she can’t participate in training because of a physical limitation, does that make her disabled? It might if you treat her like she is—at least that is what the Eleventh Circuit...more
1/17/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Descriptions ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reversal ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Unpaid Leave
When does workplace hugging go too far? The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently weighed in with an opinion. Victoria Zetwick, a county correctional officer, based her Title VII hostile work environment suit almost...more
From the “You’d Think This Would Be Obvious” file in August, the Tenth Circuit reversed a district court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of an employer in a case in which a male employee allegedly exposed his genitals...more
On December 2, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment on behalf of Swedish Match North America, Inc. in a case in which its former male salesperson, Donald Rickard, claimed he suffered age and sex...more