At 1:29 am on March 26, 2024, a cargo ship collided (or, more accurately, allided) with the Francis Scott Key Bridge near Baltimore, Maryland. The bridge fell into the Patapsco River in a matter of seconds, immediately...more
The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1 and runs through November 30, although Subtropical Storm Andrew made 2019 the fifth consecutive year to have a named storm form outside of that time frame. The...more
In the last week, there have been several news stories about the recent island-wide power outage in Puerto Rico, the tenuous condition of Puerto Rico’s power grid, and the fact that hurricane season is right around the...more
In its recent decision in Rancosky v. Washington National Insurance Company, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court examined, for the first time, Pennsylvania’s standard for insurance bad faith. The court held that, while an...more
Wildfire season in North America is off to a raging start this year. Fire activity in the western United States increased significantly in June as preexisting dry conditions and record-setting heat events created the perfect...more
The Navigator is about to sail off on a mid-year break. Before we leave for the long holiday weekend, here’s an update on minimum wage legislation around the country. In our 2016 year-end review, we wrote...more
Last week, a JP Morgan employee filed a complaint with the EEOC challenging JP Morgan’s parental leave policy. JP Morgan provides up to sixteen weeks of paid parental leave for the “primary caregiver” of a child, and up to...more
We recently wrote about the $3.3 million verdict in a disability discrimination case brought by an employee who is allergic to certain scents and chemicals. For some of our readers, it came as a surprise that a scent allergy...more
Prohibitions against discrimination in employment based on race, national origin, religion, sex, age, and disability are generally familiar to business owners, HR professionals, and in-house counsel. Because these...more
The Fair Labor Standards Act has made plenty of news recently, but most of the attention has been focused on who qualifies for overtime. For much of 2016, it looked like new federal regulations would require that anyone...more
We recently helped a client work through a collection of reasonable accommodation issues. In doing so, we realized that we were dealing with questions that wouldn’t have come up 10 years ago, or maybe even 5 years ago. ...more
The concept of constructive discharge appears regularly in employment law cases and commentary, but we’ve found that it’s not always well understood. Because a constructive discharge can have all the consequences of a typical...more
When a data breach places employees’ information at risk, is the employer liable? We’ve continued to track legal actions against employers based on data breaches, but we still don’t have clear guidance from the courts....more
Allegations of sexual harassment continue to attract media attention and commentary, including ours. As we review developments, we note that a wide variety of workplace behaviors are being challenged and scrutinized. ...more
Today we come to the third and final post in our series about the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). We’ve tried to address FMLA issues that, in our experience, pose particular challenges for employers. Over the past two...more
Last week, we wrote about some of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requirements that can be particularly challenging for employers. This week, we’re going to focus on an aspect of FMLA entitlement that causes employers...more
We have found that the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) is a source of confusion and misunderstanding for some of our clients. Even experienced HR professionals and in-house counsel have questions about what it...more
Last week, we discussed the definition of national origin discrimination and the requirements imposed on employers by state and federal law. Today’s post provides examples of workplace issues involving workers’ national...more
Understanding disability discrimination and reasonable accommodation is a challenge for employers, and particularly for the in-house counsel and HR professionals who must manage disability issues in the workplace. As you...more
As 2016 comes to a close, there is understandable concern about and interest in changes to employment laws and regulations that may be initiated by a new federal administration. Although enforcement and regulatory priorities...more
Nearly two years ago, we wrote about noncompetition agreements in the wake of news that sandwich maker Jimmy John’s required low-level employees to agree to highly restrictive noncompetition clauses. Last week, Jimmy John’s...more
On Election Day, November 8, employment-related initiatives were voted on and passed by voters in a number of states.
Minimum Wage -
Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and Washington approved ballot measures to...more
This is the fifth in our series of posts for general counsel and the HR professionals who support them. As we have noted previously, GCs are responsible for a lot but may not have time to become an expert on everything. These...more
Federal law does not explicitly prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or transgender status. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it an “unlawful employment...more
November 8, 2016 is almost here—finally. There has been stress and controversy in the workplace this election season as a result of the unusually contentious and heated presidential election. Indeed, a recent American...more