In recent years, numerous employers have fired or taken other disciplinary action against employees based on antics posted on social media sites. The classic example of such reaction involves parents who discover that their...more
Most employers using temporary workers from an employment agency assume that they are liable as employers for certain legal claims. While a reasonable assumption, until last week, this status had never been formally...more
8/3/2015
/ Appeals ,
Control Test ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
Remand ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Supervisors ,
Temporary Employees ,
Title VII
Employer misclassification of employees as contractors has filled recent newspaper articles and caught the attention of legislators in the Carolinas and beyond. Last week, the federal Department of Labor entered the fray,...more
Employers are well aware of their potential liability for workplace harassment claims involving co-workers or third parties. They also understand their heightened legal responsibility when the alleged harasser is the...more
As reported in EmployNews, over the past year the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has aggressively shifted its position on the extent of coverage of LGBT workers under Title VII. In federal employee cases where the...more
Over the past several years, employment lawyers have cautioned their clients with regard to legal risks involved with unpaid internships. As these internships rose in popularity, many of the arrangements failed to meet...more
Employers and employees often face frustrations when trying to determine the identity of persons who engage in anonymous acts of harassment in the workplace. These acts can involve notes, graffiti, telephone messages or other...more
Sometimes, employees believe that they have been discriminated against or harassed based on their membership in multiple protected categories. Employers often receive EEOC charges that identify race and sex, or age and...more
The U.S. Supreme Court rejects the overwhelming majority of requests for review of lower court decisions. For some reason, the Court appears to have a soft spot for so-called “donning and doffing” cases. These cases involve...more
The IRS recently updated the Audit Techniques Guide that is provided to its agents with respect to deferred compensation programs, including - as the Guide specifies - salary reduction arrangements, bonus deferral plans,...more
Employers concerned over the impact of new National Labor Relations Board union election rules lost some hope last week that federal courts would step in to stop the regulations from going into effect. The NLRB rules...more
The Department of Labor’s long-anticipated revisions to its Part 541 overtime exemption regulations await Office of Management and Budget review before issuance in proposed form. The new rules follow President Obama’s...more
In 2010, President Obama issued Executive Order 13496 requiring federal contractors to post a new notice of employee federal labor rights. Among other things, the posting advised contractors’ employees of their rights to...more
For years, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina and South Carolina) set a high bar for plaintiffs suing for workplace harassment. The court rejected multiple claims involving obnoxious and crude...more
Last week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a willful OSHA citation against an employer that delayed calling for emergency services for 90 minutes after an employee became trapped in a permit-required confined...more
Many employers and municipalities across the U.S. are considering changes to laws and rules governing access to restroom facilities by transgendered persons. Employers can struggle balancing the interests of transgendered...more
For years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has cautioned employers against adopting strict English-only rules in the workplace. The EEOC considers such policies to constitute race and/or national origin...more
What happens when a plaintiff pursuing a disability discrimination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act dies during administrative or judicial review? Are the claims of such a personal nature that they expire along...more
The ADA Amendments Act substantially broadened the definition of protected disabled persons under federal law. Prior to ADAAA, federal courts routinely dismissed disability discrimination claims on the basis that the claimed...more
Publically traded companies are required by law to disclose to shareholders pending legal matters that could materially affect their stock price. According to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, an employer’s disclosure of...more
Not all offensive conduct in the workplace rises to the level of an actionable sexual harassment claim. Federal courts have repeatedly held that in order to cross the line into an offensive working environment, the conduct...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Faragher and Ellerth decisions imposed vicarious liability on employers for sexual harassment engaged in by supervisors. This means that in most cases, the employer is liable for the harassment...more
In its Oncale decision, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that same sex sexual harassment is actionable under Title VII. However, the Court qualified this decision by stating that the harassment must be motivated by sexual...more
Over the past several months, EmployNews reported a growing trend of claims alleging that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgendered status violates Title VII if the alleged conduct involves gender...more