A manager allegedly makes racially inappropriate jokes. Months later, the company eliminates a position in a nationwide cost-cutting initiative and reduces an employee’s hours. So she sues for race discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment.
But she loses. Continue reading
If your FLSA exemption strategy depends on a minimum one- or two-day guarantee, this decision should get your attention.
The Fifth Circuit just rejected that structure under the statute’s salary-basis test. Continue reading
The job requirements were… a lot: craft-beer exams, choreography, flair tricks, social media posts, and a “weight proportional to height” standard. Oh, and a mechanical bull. Eighteen longtime bartenders said the whole thing skewed younger. The court said their lawsuit had a more basic problem. Continue reading
Many employers rely on hiring assessments to gauge fit. But what if those tools are viewed as unlawful lie detector tests? A recent Massachusetts ruling should give you pause before you rely on a “workstyle” assessment. Continue reading
Yesterday, the Department of Labor announced a new proposal on independent contractor classification. If finalized, the proposal would once again reshape how employers evaluate whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under federal law. Continue reading
A federal court recently rejected an attempt to force a litigant to turn over information about her use of ChatGPT in a pending employment lawsuit.
Yes. Information about her AI use.
In a civil case, one side moved to compel “all documents and information concerning [the plaintiff’s] use of third-party AI tools in connection with this lawsuit.” The court said no. Continue reading
A single slur can sink an employer. It can also survive summary judgment. Two recent federal decisions show why context — especially who said it and how — still controls. Continue reading
At the British Academy Film Awards – better known as the BAFTAs, the U.K.’s version of the Oscars – a man with Tourette’s Syndrome interrupted the ceremony while actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award, shouting a racial slur.
That public moment raises a workplace question: If an employee with Tourette’s involuntarily uses the N-word around Black colleagues or the B-word around women, does the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require the employer to keep him in his job? Continue reading
Two arguments show up in almost every termination lawsuit: that the employer’s reason changed, and that it didn’t follow its own policy. The Eleventh Circuit recently explained why neither argument, without more, is enough to get a case to a jury. Continue reading
Under basic contract law, yes. But thanks to the Ending Forced Arbitration Act, that may not be the end of the story. Continue reading
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