Property and liability insurance carriers typically employ inspectors whose jobs involve investigations in support of their claims adjustment functions. Last month, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North...more
North Carolina’s controversial new “Ag-Gag” Law took effect January 1. The bill was passed at the behest of state pork and poultry interests concerned over animal rights activists using employment as a cover to film...more
Last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed several high profile lawsuits claiming that employer group medical insurance plans violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by imposing certain mandatory...more
Last month, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that it is reducing the minimum percentage of annual random drug tests for commercial motor vehicle drivers from 50 percent...more
Over the past several years, the healthcare industry and Department of Labor have clashed over the application of the Professional exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements to various...more
Last month, the Seventh Circuit again rejected the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s attempt to declare an employer’s standard severance agreement illegal under Title VII. The EEOC and CVS Pharmacy have clashed over...more
Over the past several years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has taken a decidedly more aggressive position with regard to litigation against employers accused of discrimination. The EEOC has brought a number of...more
Plaintiffs can sue for employment discrimination under federal civil rights laws using two theories. Disparate treatment claims allege that the plaintiff was treated differently based on his or her protected status. Disparate...more
Employers seeking to avoid costly and often hostile juries have increasingly relied upon mandatory arbitration agreements with employees. Under these provisions, the parties agree to submit any disputes involving the...more
Earlier this year, the federal Department of Labor proposed an increase in the minimum salary required to claim exempt status from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements under its Part 541 “white collar”...more
Employers seeking to avoid disputes in court with employees increasingly seek to use mandatory arbitration agreements. Typically, these agreements take the form of stand-alone written documents, signed by both parties....more
In general, once an employee tenders his or her notice of resignation, the employer is under no legal obligation to rescind acceptance of the notice. Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals cast doubt on this rule by...more
Employers in the Carolinas are by now familiar with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s digital charge processing system. The EEOC chose its Charlotte district office as one of the pilot locations for the new...more
Some employers prefer using temporary workers due to the added flexibility they provide in terms of filling roles not suited for permanent employees. However, some employers persist in believing that obtaining workers from a...more
Intermittent leave continues to pose some of the most vexing Family and Medical Leave Act problems for employers. Employees eligible for intermittent FMLA leave frequently miss work without advance notice, leaving the...more
When a supervisor engages in sexual harassment in violation of Title VII, the employer can be held vicariously liable for the action even if it takes immediate steps to end the harassment once it learns of the conduct....more
The recent federal budget compromise contains a potentially nasty surprise for some employers. The new law allows the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, among other federal agencies, to increase civil penalties...more
As exhaustively reported in EmployNews over the past several years, the National Labor Relations Board has been attacking numerous employee handbook provisions considered for years by employers to constitute standard...more
The Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act prohibits employers from requesting or discriminating against employees or applicants based on genetic information or family medical history. In recent years, the Equal...more
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the consolidated appeals of seven cases involving employer provision of birth control under the Affordable Care Act. In its 2013 Hobby Lobby case, the Court concluded that the...more
When employers require employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements, the agreements typically state that any subsequent arbitration must be brought in the employee’s individual capacity. In other words, the agreements...more
When investigating administrative charges of discrimination, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission often sends employers Requests for Information that seek details about employees similarly situated to the charging...more
Family and Medical Leave Act contains a two-year statute of limitations for claims of interference with or retaliation against protected employee activity. Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals faced questions over...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from discriminating against protected individuals with respect to terms and conditions of employment, including compensation. Employers frequently ask whether these...more
Title VII and related federal anti-discrimination laws prohibit employers from discriminating against persons based on their membership in a protected category. These discrimination prohibitions include pay disparities. What...more