The employment law blogs have been filled over the past two years with discussions about mandatory COVID-19 testing. However, not many employers have attempted to require employees to have their family members tested for...more
We once had a client opine that he was looking to acquire a new business and not a lawsuit to go along with it. The risk of buying a company with poor human resource practices or pending claims should make review of labor...more
Recently, a client received an EEOC charge that among other claims, alleged that a manager’s discussions of support for former President Trump’s campaign constituted evidence of a hostile work environment based on race....more
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, or CROWN Act. The bill would add a new protected classification to federal employment and other discrimination...more
On December 14, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updates to its technical assistance for employers dealing with employees who are recovering from COVID-19 infections. The EEOC previously stated that...more
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updates to its questions and answers guidance on the interplay between employer COVID-19 policies and federal anti-discrimination laws. While the revised guidance...more
As more employers are considering (or being legally required to consider) implementing COVID-19 vaccination mandates, they should also consider if and how to ask job applicants about their vaccination status. The federal...more
July 26 was the 31st anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In an announcement associated with that anniversary, President Joe Biden’s administration indicated that long-term symptoms associated...more
One of our clients recently received a charge of discrimination filed by a former employee with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The employee, who the employer considered to be African-American, became involved in...more
On May 28, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its COVID-19 “Technical Assistance Questions and Answers” for employers to provide additional guidance on vaccination policies. While the update does not...more
Last week, a client asked a timely and interesting question. The employer asked whether it can begin charging higher group health insurance premiums to employees who have declined the COVID-19 vaccination....more
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
As more businesses move toward ending remote working arrangements, we have had a number of questions from clients with regard to employee requests to continue working from home for medical reasons. The employees cite a...more
Title VII requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to allow employees to work in ways compatible with their religious beliefs and practices. However, for decades, federal courts have interpreted this obligation...more
The above question may be the most frequent one we have encountered from employers in the past several weeks. As more COVID-19 vaccines become available, employers are increasingly curious about the number of their employees...more
In 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released an enforcement guidance document cautioning employers on the use of criminal background checks in hiring. The EEOC advised employers that blanket use of...more
In the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2002 Barnett decision, the court held that qualified disabled employees are entitled to reassignment to an existing vacant position under the Americans with Disabilities Act if they become unable...more
Retaliation claims now constitute the most frequently cited basis for charges filed before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Lawsuits based on retaliation can be especially dangerous for employers because they do...more
Under federal civil rights laws, if the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finds reasonable cause to believe that a charging party has been discriminated against, it must enter into settlement discussions before...more
Over the course of 2020, numerous large, publicly traded corporations have come under scrutiny and criticism for their lack of diversity among senior management. As a result, some of these companies have announced their...more
Last week, North Carolina entered into phase three of its COVID-19 reopening process. As more businesses try to resume normal operations, a number of clients have asked about employees who express continuing concerns over...more
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
In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, it may be easy for employers to forget about the earlier crisis involving opioid addiction in the U.S. Companies continue to struggle with employees who face opioid addiction...more
Federal civil rights laws prevent retaliation against employees who oppose discriminatory conduct in the workplace. What happens, however, when the employee’s oppositional conduct interferes with the performance of her job...more
Over the past week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has added to its ongoing COVID-19 technical guidance document, answering a number of questions relating to employee return-to-work plans. Most importantly, the...more