The Modern Workplace
As much of the country wound down from Thanksgiving celebrations with friends, families and everything in between last month, football programs around the country were also recuperating from one of the most anticipated weekends of the season – the historic rivalry weekend which occurs just in time for the Thanksgiving tryptophan to wear off. As an added bonus, it also happened to be that time of year for many college programs when the afternoon football game is followed quickly by a basketball game in the evening. It is, for some sports fans, the “most wonderful time of the year” ...
In our December 16, 2016, post, we reported that petitions for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court were filed with respect to five U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals opinions concerning whether arbitration clauses requiring individual arbitration in lieu of class or collective lawsuits (class-action waivers) are invalid under federal labor law. There is a clear circuit divide on this issue, the resolution of which will impact thousands of employers and potentially millions of American workers.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari on January 13, 2017, as to opinions rendered by the ...
In our September 23rdpost, we reported that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a petition for certiorari in NLRB v. Murphy Oil decided by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether arbitration clauses requiring workers to arbitrate disputes individually and not on the basis of collective or class actions (class-action waivers)are invalid under federal labor law. As we reported in September, the petition was filed in the face of a clear split among the federal Circuit Courts of Appeals. The U.S ...
On September 9, 2016, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the U.S. Justice Department filed a petition for certiorari in NLRB v. Murphy Oil, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether arbitration clauses requiring workers to arbitrate disputes individually and not on the basis of collective or class actions (class action waivers)are invalid under federal labor law. Given the clear split on this legal issue among the federal circuit courts, the Supreme Court appears likely to accept review.
What's the Split and Where Does Minnesota Stand?
Class Action Waivers Are ...
A white news anchor has filed a race discrimination lawsuit against her former employer, a Pittsburgh television station. Wendy Bell made headlines earlier this year when she was let go from her anchor position after posting controversial comments on a Facebook page sponsored by the television station. Now, Bell is making headlines again for her unusual race discrimination claims.
Earlier this spring, the Washington Post reported that Bell was fired after she posted comments on Facebook about a mass shooting that Bell had recently covered on air.
In her comments, Bell stated You ...
Last week, we wrote about employer best practices with respect to responding to possible employee medical issues. A recent case out of the Eighth Circuit showcases one employers creative approach to thinking about possible future medical issues.
BNSF Railway Company, based in Nebraska, reportedly has had a policy of not hiring any applicant for a safety sensitive position if the applicant has a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or higher. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a person with a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. In the recent Eighth Circuit case ...
The plaintiffs in Tyson Foods worked in the kill, cut, and retrim departments of a Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Iowa. To do their ...
Under fundamental principles of contract law, a contract must be supported by ...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) forged new ground earlier this month when it ordered the U.S. Army to pay damages to a transgender employee based on a discriminatory restroom policy. We have reported in past posts on the EEOCs increased enforcement focus on transgender rights in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the increased societal focus on this issue. (See, prior posts here and here.) The EEOCs recent April 1st ruling in Tamara Lusardi v. John M. McHugh, Secretary, Department of the Army reflects this trend and sets forth ...
Todays EEOC . . . is pursuing many questionable cases through sometimes overly aggressive means and, as a result, has suffered significant court losses that are embarrassing to the agency and costly to taxpayers. Courts have found EEOCs litigation tactics to be so ...
Wage theft is becoming a popular phrase in the media. A New York Times article recently announced that More Workers Are Claiming Wage Theft. Other news outlets are using the phrase to describe lawsuits brought by workers of a wide mix of employers, ranging from Jimmy John's to NFL franchises. Wage theft even has its own website.
At its core, wage theft is simply a catchphrase designed to draw attention to violations of wage and hour laws. The use of the term wage theft appears to be a relatively recent phenomenon. There were more references to wage theft in U.S. newspapers during the ...
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 ...
In a recent Week in Review post, we referenced a Wall Street Journal article about Zappos.com. It has abandoned job postings in favor of a radically different approach. Instead of posting job descriptions at online career sites, Zappos will maintain a social media network of Zappos Insiders. Through social media, people interested in working at Zappos will network and connect with current employees and provide (sometimes public) information about their skills and interests in hopes of being tapped to work in a specific job. As the Wall Street Journal article points out ...
The assault on internet security continues to fill news headlines this week. On the heels of the Heartbleed bug, Microsoft announced this week that a security vulnerability exists in all versions of Internet Explorer, with no known fix. This vulnerability is especially concerning for employers, who often do not control the browser choices of employees. Also, you can read below to discover the various ways that security breaches can affect our everyday lives, including jamming up traffic and "war driving" at your favorite free wi-fi spot.
Recent Week in Review topics are also back ...
Not all technology-based changes in the workplace involve social media and smartphones. This week's headlines and blog posts highlight other ways in which technology is changing the way we work. For example, employers are currently facing the decision of how to approach e-cigarettes in the workplace, and some employers are skipping the booth-filled convention centers and instead opting for virtual career fairs to find top candidates. We also have linked to an article below about employees who put your cybersecurity at risk and how to deal with them. Finally, learn how to craft email ...
The Supreme Court announced last week that it will hear two cases in which for-profit businesses are challenging the Affordable Care Acts (ACA) contraceptive mandate on freedom of religion grounds. The key issue before the Supreme Court will be whether or not corporations have religious rights.
This week, Dropbox unveiled its new "Dropbox for Business" initiative, which gives employees a greater ability to establish digital work-life balance. The product includes two data folders - one for business data and one for personal data so that businesses and workers have the ability to segregate digital work and personal data. The Dropbox announcement came on the same day that Amazon unveiled a similar product. Airbnb also frequented the headlines this week, both for its new, streamlined app and for the scrutiny its vacation and home rental business is under from regulators. ...
Ive had succession planning on my mind this week following the release of a research poll that indicates that about half of older Americans are delaying retirement plans to work longer. The poll, which was conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, indicates that over eighty percent of older Americans plan to work during their retirement years and almost fifty percent expect to delay retirement. Eleven percent of those surveyed indicated they dont expect to ever retire. These survey results may stem from a number of factors. The recent recession has ...
Given a recent uptick in court rulings enforcing class action waivers, it may be time to revisit whether your company prefers to resolve disputes with employees in court or through arbitration. Class action waivers in arbitration agreements have been gaining in popularity with employers since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an arbitration clause containing a class-action waiver in the AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion case in 2010 and again this year in the American Express Co. v. Italian Restaurants case. These Supreme Court cases involved consumer disputes, but numerous employers ...
Vance v. Ball State University: This case involves the definition of a supervisor for purposes of harassment claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Under current law, employers may be held strictly liable for the acts of supervisors but harassment by a co-worker will not create liability unless the employer knew or should have known about the harassment. This decision will clarify a ...
Tired of hearing about privacy? Perhaps you should avoid the news for a little while longer, then, because this week the war over online privacy heated up when Congress decided to join the fight. On Wednesday, the Password Protection Act of 2012 was introduced in the US Senate. It seeks to prohibit employers from coercing prospective and current employees to provide access to any secured information stored online or from retaliating against employees' refusals to do so. An identical bill is being debated in the House. A California bill with the same aims unanimously passed the Assembly ...
Even non-union employers need to be careful about their labor law obligations. Most readers have either given or heard this advice multiple times, but labor law risks are still sometimes overlooked. As an example, in one of the strangest employment-related news stories of the week, a Florida law firm reportedly fired 14 employees because they wore orange to work on a Friday. According to the news report, the law firm called the employees into a conference room and an executive accused them of engaging in a protest. An employee explained that they were not engaged in a protest, but ...
Well, the stakes for companies using unpaid interns have just gotten higher. Last Wednesday, an intern filed a wage and hour claim against Charlie Rose and ...
This week technology once again helped and hurt the workplace. Companies are using cloud computing to save thousands of dollars, but employees still waste countless hours on email and the web. Meanwhile, new technology is making headlines this week, from Google goggles to an app that locates your iPhone for you. Plus, rumors are circulating about Microsoft Office on the iPad. Even if it's not true, a new app will give you access to a Windows 7 desktop from your iPad.
Technology and the Workplace
Should You Send That Email? (FastCo)
Your Facebook Profile Can Predict Your Job ...
Over the last year, Regional Directors of the National Labor Relations Board have initiated several high-profile complaints against employers for policies and conduct related to social media. (See Megan Anderson's article about this trend here.) In these complaints, the NLRB has alleged that employers violated Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act by maintaining overly broad social media policies or by disciplining employees for protected concerted activity (or both). However, many of the cases have settled, and none have advanced to trial, leaving a trail of ...
In a consumer products case that will likely have a significant impact on employers and employees who enter into arbitration agreements, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last Wednesday, April 27, 2011, that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts states from prohibiting enforcement of arbitration agreements that bar arbitration of class action disputes (AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, Docket No. 09-893, April 27, 2011). In a divided decision, the Court reversed a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that a class action arbitration waiver in AT&Ts wireless service agreement was ...
A line supervisor reports to HR that an employee has been lying about illness as the reason for frequent absences and shares that he ...
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear yet another significant employment law case in its 2010-2011 term. The case, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, addresses the controversial ministerial exception to discrimination laws.
[w]hether the ministerial exception applies to a teacher at a religious elementary school who teaches the full secular curriculum, but also teaches ...
You may be wondering what cats have to do with employment law. Well, last week the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the cats paw theory of employment discrimination for the first time, making it easier for employees to prove discrimination and for employers to get burned by legal liability. The phrase cats paw stems from an Aesop fable in which a monkey uses flattery to induce a cat to retrieve roasting chestnuts from a hot fire and then absconds with the chestnuts after the cat has burned its paws. Based on the fable, cats paw refers to a person who is unwittingly used to accomplish another's ...
Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) has been around for about 20 years now, and for some employers it has been a good investment. For others, it has been a disappointment, and for still others it remains a mystery. My own view is that every employer should consider adding EPLI to its insurance coverage, but should do so with a clear understanding of EPLI's limitations and cost.
So, what should employers expect and what should they watch out for when they shop for EPLI? That's the focus of today's post.
Employers should first understand what, if any, coverage they have for ...
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