During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers were understandably concerned that regardless of the measures taken to prevent workplace infections, employees could still place co-workers and third parties in...more
Over the past decade, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) has substantially lowered the bar for demonstrating racial harassment in cases where a racial...more
“Grade inflation” is a well-known phenomenon in the academic sphere, where grade-point averages creep up over time despite the lack of performance-based reasons for the increase. Grade inflation can also be an issue...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that federal courts will not serve as a super HR department for employees who complain about unpleasant work conditions. Every worker is expected to tolerate a certain level of obnoxious...more
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) contains some of the most expansive employee rights provisions under federal law, requiring employers not only to reinstate service members to their...more
Some employers use mandatory arbitration agreements with employees, intended to have disputes heard through private arbitration instead of the court system. Earlier this week, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which...more
Over the past decade, a growing number of federal appellate circuits have heard cases asking whether a single use of a racially offensive epithet is enough to clear the bar for a hostile environment racial harassment claim...more
Companies are increasingly using sophisticated forensic tools to review employee computer use. These searches can reveal violations of company policies relating to computer use, confidential information disclosure, or...more
The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to provide employees with 60 days advance notice of a plant closing or mass layoff. On Tuesday in an unreported decision, the Fourth...more
12/6/2021
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Contract Termination ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fluor ,
Layoff Notices ,
Layoffs ,
Notice Requirements ,
WARN Act
In a new opinion from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Maner v. Dignity Health, the plaintiff was a male design engineer who was laid off due to performance and budget cut issues. He alleged that he had been discriminated...more
A bill pending before the South Carolina legislature would place limits on employers’ and businesses’ ability to collect and use biometric information from employees and customers. The law incorporates parts of similar laws...more
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires covered employers to provide employees with 60 days’ advance notice of a facility closing or mass layoff. However, WARN only applies to companies with at...more
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers are required to consider reassignment to an existing vacant position as a last ditch form of reasonable accommodation for an employee unable to return to their previous...more
The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFAA) put into place criminal and civil remedies to counter what was then the new phenomenon of computer hacking. While directed toward outside agents, over the years...more
In its Oncale decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that same-sex sexual harassment violates Title VII’s sex discrimination prohibition. In that case, the court said that plaintiffs can demonstrate same-sex harassment...more
5/28/2021
/ Appeals ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Harassment ,
PricewaterhouseCoopers ,
Remand ,
Same-Sex Harassment ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Title VII
If disabled employees are no longer able to perform the essential functions of their job even with reasonable accommodation, under the Americans with Disabilities Act the employer must consider transferring the workers to an...more
5/7/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Transfers ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Essential Functions ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remand ,
Reversal
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act allows plaintiffs to pursue equal pay claims based on prior actions that continue to have a negative effect on their salaries. Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a grant...more
2/8/2021
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Lilly Ledbetter ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Reversal ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wage and Hour
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from discrimination based on a range of protected classifications. However, Title VII only applies to employment relationships and cannot be used by contractors,...more
1/22/2021
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Definition ,
Equity Partners ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Law Firm Partners ,
Law Practice Management ,
Professional Services Companies ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Title VII
According to U.S. Department of Justice statistics, Black men in the U.S. are more likely to be arrested and have criminal convictions on their records than their white counterparts. Last week, a split Second Circuit Court of...more
9/28/2020
/ Appeals ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Records ,
Dismissals ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Race Discrimination
The U.S. Department of Labor continues to regularly update its question and answer guidance under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. In its latest update, DOL provides helpful guidance on a range of issues involving...more
On April 28, the U.S. Department of Labor issued additional guidance to state agencies regarding recently expanded unemployment benefits. The Q&A format followed a DOL webinar where many of the questions addressed were first...more
This week, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration began issuing a series of safety alerts aimed at specific industries and their workers’ potential exposure to COVID-19. The first alerts cover the retail,...more
4/28/2020
/ Construction Industry ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Essential Workers ,
Manufacturers ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
OSHA ,
Retailers ,
Safety Standards ,
Workplace Safety
On Tuesday, the National Labor Relations Board published final regulations that make important changes to the way union election campaigns are conducted – and legally challenged by either the union or employer. The most...more
In order to claim discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employees must demonstrate that they could perform the essential functions of the job but were denied a reasonable accommodation. Some employers...more
3/11/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Essential Functions ,
Interactive Process ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reversal
Some of the most frequent questions we receive from employers involve managing the performance of employees with medical issues. While employers understand their nondiscrimination obligations under the Americans with...more
3/6/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Best Management Practices ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discipline ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Poor Job Performance ,
Summary Judgment