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Dust off your handbooks and rethink your employment policies the EEOC has just announced some significant changes in how it is going to investigate and litigate pregnancy discrimination claims.

In its first comprehensive pregnancy guidance update in thirty years, the EEOC issued new pregnancy discrimination guidance in mid-July. The updated guidance is effective immediately, superseding the prior guidance and addressing the application of many laws passed since 1983 - including the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 1993 Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) - to ...

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Apple is making the news this week in connection with its recently issued 'iTime' patent for a new smartwatch device and as anticipation grows for the soon-to-be released iPhone 6. The news on Apple isn't only technology related though. Apple is also fighting a class action lawsuit in California for allegedly denying lunch breaks and final paychecks to employees. The link below provides greater detail on this lawsuit, as well as other employment-related lawsuits Apple is currently defending. Be sure to add a review of your wage and hour practices to your to-do list this year.  And, for ...

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Adjunct faculty members at the University of St. Thomas Monday voted overwhelmingly against union representation by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 284Gray Plant Mooty's Labor Law and Higher Education Practice Teams served as labor counsel to St. Thomas in the union representation process. Since the union filed its petition for an election on May 23, GPM has been working intensively with the General Counsels office at St. Thomas to advise on the labor law, handling matters before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), assisting the university's ...

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Some high profile companies, including two technology giants, made headlines this week after former employees filed lawsuits against them alleging discrimination and harassment.  The case against Yahoo is likely to be particularly interesting, because the executive accused of harassment is alleging that she's being defamed by false allegations. You can read more about each of these lawsuits below, and you can revisit one of our recent prior posts for more information on the same topic.  In other news from Silicon Valley, Google is making headlines this week for its work on ...

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Minnesota recently became the 22nd state to legalize medical marijuana use and, as part of the new law, to enact new potential employment protections for registered users of medical marijuana. Minnesota's new marijuana law has already gone into effect, but distribution of marijuana for medical purposes is not expected until July 1, 2015. Employers should use this extra time to familiarize themselves with Minnesota's new law and its potential implications. While the new Minnesota law purports to impose some new employment law obligations on employers, it also raises many ...

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Last week a New York federal court certified a class of approximately 250,000 African-American job applicants in a race discrimination case against the U.S. Census Bureau. The plaintiffs allege that they were unlawfully excluded from consideration for door-to-door census positions due to arrest records that never resulted in convictions. In other instances, applicants were allegedly rejected based on convictions for minor crimes or convictions that were so old they should not have been considered. The lawsuit alleges that the Census Bureaus practices disparately ...

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According to an article in The New York Times this week, high level executives make up the majority of tablet users in the workplace. That may change, though, as in the workplace tablet usage increases.  It was predicted this week that, during 2015, manufacturer shipments of tablets will exceed shipments of desktops and laptops. This suggests more tablet use in the workplace going forward. While this is good news for the tablet industry, employers should be mindful of new data security issues in the headlines this week. A cyber forensic expert revealed this week that Google Glass wearers ...

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We hope you had a happy 4th of July weekend!  Last weeks news included more employees making headlines for their misuse of social media.  The links below highlight three cases in which employees social media activity or misuse of company computers led to a loss of employment or litigation.  For other recent headlines on the same topic, check out this link to our Week in Review from a few weeks back.  These news stories are great reminders of why all employers should have a robust social media and computer usage policy in place.  So, as you're digging back into your work post-holiday, consider ...

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On August 1, 2014, Minnesota's new minimum wage law takes effect. The new law changes the states minimum wage requirements in several ways, including new definitions of large and small employers, progressively increasing rates over time, and indexing to inflation.

Minnesota sets its minimum wage based on the size of the employer as determined by gross sales. Under the new law, a large employer is one that has gross sales over $500,000 in annual business. Small employers are defined to have gross sales under $500,000 in annual business. Prior to the change, the gross sales ...

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