By an 8-to-1 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed today that public schools might have an interest in regulating student speech, but the leeway the First Amendment grants to schools is diminished in the off-campus context....more
By a 9-0 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday ruled in favor of student-athletes on the NCAA rules restricting education-related benefits given to athletes. However, while the ruling in yesterday’s NCAA v. Alston...more
6/22/2021
/ Alston v NCAA ,
Antitrust Violations ,
College Athletes ,
Colleges ,
Compensation ,
Name and Likeness ,
NCAA ,
Restraint of Trade ,
SCOTUS ,
Sherman Act ,
Student Athletes ,
Universities
Can a public university discipline a professor for refusing to address a student by the student’s preferred pronoun? If so, can the professor defend his conduct by alleging his religious beliefs prohibit him from recognizing...more
6/2/2021
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Colleges ,
Discipline ,
Exceptions ,
First Amendment ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
Free Speech ,
Gender Identity ,
Hostile Environment ,
Professors ,
Religious Beliefs ,
School Policies ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Transgender ,
Universities
When the House of Representatives passed the PRO Act last year with the aim of overhauling federal labor law for the benefit of organized labor, we predicted the legislation would stall in the face of the Republican Senate...more
1/18/2021
/ Employee Rights ,
Employer Rights ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
Section 7 ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
As the country begins to re-emerge amid the COVID-19 pandemic, whether and when any particular school will be ready to return for the upcoming school year and at what level will depend on the individual school, its location,...more
5/22/2020
/ Colleges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health and Safety ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Professors ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
School Districts ,
School Policies ,
Social Distancing ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Tuition ,
Universities ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Pursuant to Executive Order 2020-21, Governor Gretchen Whitmer effectively shuttered the State of Michigan from March 24, 2020 until at least April 13, 2020. The Order, titled Temporary requirement to suspend activities that...more
It’s here. It’s happening. Each day, another piece of what our society recognizes as white supremacist ideology finds its way into mainstream social media and news platforms. We read about it, wrestle with our stand on “free...more
12/13/2019
/ Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Private Schools ,
Public Schools ,
Race Discrimination ,
School Policies ,
Social Media ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Universities
Crowdfunding, in the most basic sense, is the practice of raising money from a large number of people through any number of internet-based platforms. It has become an increasingly popular way for individuals, businesses,...more
9/10/2019
/ Best Practices ,
Capital Raising ,
Colleges ,
Crowdfunding ,
Donations ,
Educational Institutions ,
FERPA ,
Financial Records ,
IDEA ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Risk Mitigation ,
School Districts ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Universities
The need to consider Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations can happen at any time during the employment relationship. Generally, an employee will ask for an accommodation before problems with performance...more
6/12/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disability Leave ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Poor Job Performance ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
School Districts ,
Teachers
Over the past year, issues regarding immigration have consumed a great part of our nation’s attention. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), created in 2003, serves as the primary investigative agency of...more
3/11/2019
/ Arrest Warrants ,
Best Practices ,
Colleges ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Students ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Immigration Records ,
School Districts ,
School Policies ,
Sensitive Locations ,
Student Records ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
Universities
In one of his last acts in office, former Governor Rick Snyder signed Michigan’s Paid Medical Leave Act into law, which will for the first time require employers in the state to provide paid sick leave to their workforces....more
1/31/2019
/ Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Snyder ,
Medical Leave ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Communication
In what appears to be the first time a federal appeals court has extended the nation’s main federal employment discrimination statute to cover transgender and transitioning employees, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals...more
3/8/2018
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
LGBTQ ,
Protected Class ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Each day we witness various factions in our society establishing a stronger platform from which to launch their voices. It seems what used to be taboo or met with disapproval has now become acceptable speech deserving of a...more
Now that debates have faded over the definition of student performance and whether guns in schools are necessary to protect against grizzly bears, everyone is settling into the reality that Betsy DeVos now leads our nation’s...more
4/5/2017
/ Charter Schools ,
Colleges ,
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) ,
IDEA ,
Private Schools ,
Public Schools ,
Religious Schools ,
School Vouchers ,
Secretary of Education ,
Trump Administration ,
Universities
Intellectual property threats (IPT) to companies participating in the gig economy may be greater than those experienced by traditional business. While this may seem self-evident to some, reflection on the matter confirms to...more
3/30/2017
/ Confidential Information ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Driverless Cars ,
Former Employee ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Industrial Espionage ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Patent Infringement ,
Software Patents ,
Trade Secrets ,
Uber
While it may be some time before we commute to work in flying cars or seek a transfer to our company’s lunar outpost, another concept once thought outside the realm of modern reality is now increasingly ordinary in the...more
3/13/2017
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Data Security ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Involuntary Reduction in Force ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Robots ,
WARN Act ,
Workplace Safety
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that a disabled child’s parents were not legally required to jump through certain additional hoops and exhaust administrative remedies in a service animal dispute...more
Nearly every piece of data and information generated by businesses these days is corralled into various electronic storage sites, such as company network servers, software-as-a-service (SaaS) business applications, and...more
Picture this scenario at your school: parents, students, and fans fill the stands on the night of the big game. The marching band takes the field, but as it begins to play the national anthem, the football team’s star player...more
It’s the night of the big game. Parents, students, and fans fill the stands. The marching band takes the field, but as the band begins to play the national anthem, the football team’s star player drops to one knee – similar...more
On May 13, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice published a guidance document for elementary and secondary schools that reaffirmed its 2015 opinion letter on how Title IX’s regulations apply...more
7/15/2016
/ Colleges ,
Department of Education ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Federal Funding ,
New Guidance ,
OCR ,
Public Schools ,
Religious Institutions ,
Title IX ,
Transgender ,
Universities
It’s official – Ohio is the 26th state to legalize medical marijuana. Governor Kasich has signed House Bill 523, which becomes effective September 6, 2016. At that time, Ohioans can expect that residents with a qualifying...more
On April 20, 1999, a seed was planted in every workplace in this nation, one which has remained rather dormant for most of us until recently. That day, 13 people left their homes and entered Columbine High School – the...more
On May 13, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice published a guidance document for elementary and secondary schools that summarizes emerging practices for supporting transgender students. While...more
In a deadlocked 4-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court could not reach a majority consensus in determining whether it is unconstitutional for states to force public sector employees to pay agency shop fees to their unions. For...more