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Retaliation Summary Judgment Corporate Counsel

Holland & Hart - Employers' Lawyers

Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Workplace Policies Against Secret Recordings

In recent years, the issue of secret recordings by employees has sparked considerable controversy. You may recall the recent incident involving an employee at CloudFlare, who filmed herself for nine minutes while questioning...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

California Supreme Court Affirms Single Comment Can Constitute Harassment and Addresses Standard for Retaliation

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In a July 29, 2024, opinion, the California Supreme Court reaffirmed that a single use of a racial epithet can be severe enough to be actionable harassment under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)....more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Get with the Pronoun: Eleventh Circuit Rules Pervasive Misgendering Is Harassment

If an employer or coworker persistently uses a transgender worker’s wrong name or identified pronoun, can that constitute a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII? In Copeland v. Georgia Department of Corrections,...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Second Circuit Ruling Could “Impact” Discrimination Claims Brought by Remote Workers under NYS Human Rights Law

In King v. Aramark Services, Inc., No. 22-1237 (March 20, 2024), a Second Circuit panel affirmed the dismissal of claims under the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”), concluding that under New York’s “impact test,”...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Federal Court Rejects Claims by Employees Allegedly Fired for Wearing BLM Masks

In February 2021, we wrote about Kinzer, et al. v. Whole Foods Market, Inc., a case pending in Massachusetts federal court in which multiple employees alleged that they had been terminated by Whole Foods for wearing Black...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

Ninth Circuit Takes Broad View of Protected Activity under the California Whistleblower Protection Act

On October 20, 2022, the Ninth Circuit reversed in part a grant of summary judgment in favor of an employer, finding that the district court misapplied the substantive law of California in holding that Plaintiff’s disclosures...more

McAfee & Taft

Tenth Circuit provides good reminder on how to handle gender discrimination claims

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An employer who terminated a female employee who left work early to attend to what an appeals court called an “inherently female” emergency situation must face a jury trial on a gender discrimination claim. Anthony Mann,...more

Butler Snow LLP

Chicken Fingers and Cat's Paws: 6th Circuit Reinstates Fired Employee's USERRA Claims

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Under the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), employers are prohibited from taking adverse employment actions against employees because they are servicemembers or are obligated to...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Stick to Your Story: Employer’s Shifting Termination Justifications Can Cause Employer to Have to Explain Its Discharge Decision...

If you want to avoid potential liability from a former employee, remember a key maxim: Stick to your story about why you made the employment decision. If an employer shifts rationales for its decision or tries to pile on by...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Whew! Fifth Circuit Reinforces Importance of Documenting Performance Issues

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Seyfarth Synopsis: In affirming summary judgment in favor of the defendant in an Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) interference and retaliation case, the Fifth Circuit reinforced the importance of documenting performance...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

Eastern District of Pennsylvania Grants Summary Judgment on SOX Claim

On July 18, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted a defendant-employer’s motion for summary judgment on a SOX whistleblower retaliation claim, holding that the Plaintiff did not have...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

I Hate My Boss: Sixth Circuit Shuts Down ADA Request for Less Stressful Boss

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reminded employers that, even under the more liberal standard for establishing a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), an employee who...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Once Is Enough: Tennessee Federal Court Rules Single Use of ‘N-Word’ By Co-Worker Sufficient to Get Hostile Work Environment Claim...

Usually, once is not enough, at least in the hostile work environment context. Unless, as the court found in Ronnie L. Outlaw v. SBH Services, Inc., it is. Typically, a single incident of harassment – especially by a...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Crosstown Traffic! Facts Surrounding Employee’s ADA/FMLA Request to Avoid Bad Traffic Not Enough

Not all requests for accommodation or FMLA leave will fit into neat boxes like “pregnancy” or “knee surgery.” Because the ADA definition of a disability includes any impairment that affects a major life function, employers...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Just What Does A Racially Hostile Environment Look Like? The Eleventh Circuit Provides Some Guidance

What constitutes a racially hostile work environment? Is one really bad comment specifically aimed at the plaintiff sufficient or do you need a sustained series of racial comments? What if you have both but no evidence that...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Fifth Circuit Rules Employers Are Not Always Protected From Liability Resulting From Harassment by Nonemployees With Diminished...

Courts have ruled that employees who work with clients with diminished capacity present different challenges when establishing whether the nonemployee’s alleged harassment affected the terms and conditions of the employee’s...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Winning Harassment Claims in the #MeToo Era

In this #MeToo era, employers are, understandably, a little sensitive when someone raises a claim of harassment. Even with the heightened sense of peril, companies should remember that if they are doing the right thing—having...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

SDNY Grants Summary Judgment Against Plaintiff in SOX Blacklisting Suit

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recently granted a motion for summary judgment against a Plaintiff claiming retaliatory blacklisting under SOX, holding that a former employer’s policy of refusing...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

The Tenth Circuit Says That The Reasonableness Of Religious Accommodations Relating To Employees’ Observance Of Sabbath Requires...

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Seyfarth Synopsis: The Tenth Circuit has recently vacated summary judgment in favor of an employer in a religious accommodation case that centers on what constitutes a “reasonable” accommodation of an employee’s observance of...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Eighth Circuit: Employer May “Elaborate” On Explanation For Termination During Litigation

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Seyfarth Synopsis: In a recent decision, the Eighth Circuit held that Title VII does not require an employer to provide an employee a reason for termination at the time of termination, and that an employer is not strictly...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

A Review of Recent Whistleblower Developments

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Whistleblower Developments is a periodic report covering significant cases, decisions, proposals, and legislation related to whistleblower statutes and how they may impact your business. Recent developments include: ...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Failure to Investigate and Fat-Shaming Permit Employment Claims to Proceed

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Seyfarth Synopsis: Under California law, obesity can qualify as a disability if it has a physiological cause and limits a major life activity. Proving such a claim has been difficult. The First District Court of Appeal’s...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Beware the Rumor Mill: Massachusetts Court Finds Reporting of Rumored Office Romance May Be Protected Activity

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Seyfarth Synopsis: A Massachusetts federal court has found that reporting a rumored office romance and complaining about paramour favoritism can be protected activity that is protected by anti-retaliation laws. The court also...more

Fisher Phillips

Unanimous Supreme Court Scolds Lower Court Over Appellate Deadline Rule - Translation: Sick SCOTUS Burn Over Hyper - Technical...

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In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that a federal procedural rule that allows a district court to extend an appeal deadline by no more than 30 days is a non-jurisdictional, mandatory claims processing...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Workers’ Compensation Ruling Given Preclusive Effect In Discrimination Lawsuit

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Seyfarth Synopsis: In Ly v. County of Fresno, the Court of Appeal held that correctional officers’ claims for race, ethnicity, and national origin discrimination were barred because the claims had been previously denied in...more

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