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#BigIdeas2020: NLRB’s Actions Impact Employers in 2020 - Employment Law This Week® - Trending News
California’s anti-SLAPP statute (Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16) aims to protect defendants from meritless lawsuits designed to chill “protected activity” — i.e., the exercise of rights of petition (litigation) or...more
“Third party” or “associational” retaliation is reprisal taken by an employer against someone other than the person who engaged in “protected conduct.” In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII’s anti-retaliation...more
As we have been blogging during the Biden presidency, the National Labor Relations Board has become quite aggressive these days. The aggression toward employers has been shown in the types of conduct the Board finds to be...more
In a recent decision, the Arizona Court of Appeals considered the claim that an employee was discharged for disclosing allegedly unsafe conditions in violation of the Arizona Employment Protection Act (AEPA), A.R.S. §...more
California’s anti-SLAPP statute (Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16) aims to protect defendants from meritless lawsuits designed to chill “protected activity” — i.e., the exercise of rights of petition or free speech on...more
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits retaliation against employees because they either oppose discriminatory actions (the "Opposition Clause") or because of their participation in an investigation, proceeding, or...more
On January 8, 2021, in the first appellate decision of the year addressing a False Claims Act case, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the summary judgment dismissal of relators’ claims that a manufacturer of allergenic extracts...more
North Carolina’s Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act (REDA) provides employees with legal claims against employers that retaliate against them for engaging in protected actions under state workers’ compensation, wage...more
The Editors' Note - Welcome to this edition of SuperVision, the e-newsletter for Spilman Thomas & Battle's Labor & Employment Law Group. 2020 continues to bring unforeseen challenges, but employers are beginning to get back...more
In Theidon v. Harvard University, No. 18-1279 (January 31, 2020), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision granting summary judgment for Harvard University as to a female professor’s...more
Under Missouri law, a request for accommodation cannot serve as the basis for a retaliation claim. Last month, the Supreme Court of Missouri issued a unanimous opinion in Lin v. Ellis, No. SC97641, 2020 WL 203145, at *5, —...more
Miller Marital Deduction Trust v. Zurich American Insurance Company, — P.3d –, 2019 WL 5304862; First Appellate District Court of Appeal, Division Three, Case No. A155398 (October 21, 2019). In Miller Marital Deduction...more
This month's key California employment law cases involve payment of wages, workplace conditions, public employment issues, and civil procedure....more
This month's key California employment law cases involve EEOC charges, disability discrimination, and meal breaks....more
On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in United State ex rel. Reed v. KeyPoint Government Solutions affirmed the dismissal of an employee’s False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblower retaliation claim....more
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit considered an appeal from the Eastern District of Louisiana, which dismissed appellants’ FCA retaliation claims based on res judicata. Res judicata, or “claim...more
On December 26, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an opinion in United States ex rel. Grant v. United Airlines affirming dismissal of the relator’s False Claims Act (FCA) allegations on the grounds...more
Sanchez v. Brawley Elementary School District, 719 Fed. Appx. 723 (9th Cir. 2018) The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms District Court’s ruling that a student’s conduct of kneeing her alleged harasser did not constitute...more
In a case of first impression, a federal appeals court just found that an applicant’s request for a religious accommodation did not constitute protected activity under Title VII for the purpose of establishing a retaliation...more
A recent decision by the Court of Appeals of Tennessee, in which the employer prevailed in a retaliatory discharge claim, demonstrates the importance of (1) maintaining confidentiality of workplace investigations and (2)...more
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits not only discrimination in employment on the basis of certain protected categories such as race, but also retaliation against an employee who opposes such discrimination....more
In her appeal to the Fifth Circuit, Plaintiff Bonnie O’Daniel argues that the trial court wrongly concluded that it was unreasonable for O’Daniel to believe that a complaint about discrimination based on sexual orientation...more
The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District has determined that the actions of a homeowners association undertaken in accordance with its land use approval process are protected activities in furtherance of free...more
Employers beware: An employee does not have to use “magic words” to complain about discrimination for it to lay the basis for a retaliation claim. The Sixth Circuit made this point in a unanimous opinion in the case of Mumm...more
A party-by-party analysis was adopted by an appellate court for the California anti-SLAPP statute, significantly narrowing the scope of a lawsuit brought against the City of Alameda and its employees. ...more