The answer is yes. (You weren’t expecting that, were you?) But here’s the thing. The company must base its decision not to rehire a former employee on a legitimate reason. For example, suppose an employee worked as a bartender, and the company terminated her employment for being late to work…
The Employer Handbook Blog
Can an employer force an employee to arbitrate ***checks notes*** a charge of discrimination?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Last night, I read a Pennsylvania federal court decision about an employer who tried to use an arbitration agreement with its employee to stop an investigation by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), the state’s version of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Consistent with a…
Here’s something you may not know about hostile work environment claims
Let’s start with what you probably know already — especially if you are an employment lawyer. To prevail on a hostile work environment claim, a plaintiff must show that she was harassed based on some protected class. In plain English, enduring hostile behavior isn’t enough. A woman alleging a hostile…
Why, oh WHY, did a court determine that ASTHMA IS NOT A DISABILITY?!?
To answer that question, I’ll first introduce you to “Jane.” Jane isn’t her real name, but we’ll go with it for this post. Jane claimed that her employer discriminated against her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act when it fired her because she had asthma. Her asthma, according…
A federal appellate court struck the DOL’s “arbitrary and capricious” tip credit rule for tipped employees
While monkeying around over the past week or so, I took a break from writing. By now, most of you have heard last week’s news about a Texas federal judge setting aside the FTC’s Noncompete Rule. But on Friday, the Fifth Circuit followed up with a decision vacating a U.S.…
875,000 reasons why the customer isn’t always right
A staffing company allegedly fulfilling a customer’s discriminatory hiring practices learned this lesson the hard way. Two years ago, the EEOC announced that it had sued a staffing company that allegedly honored requests that some business clients made over several years to fill positions with only male workers. The EEOC…
Three reasons why a Texas federal court may block the FTC’s noncompete rule nationwide
At noon ET today on Zoom, we aim to cover everything employers need to know now about the Federal Trade Commission’s blunderbuss Non-Compete Rule. (We may have a few seats left. Click here to register for this free Zoom powered by HRLearns.) If we don’t actually cover “everything” this afternoon, I wanted to highlight here three arguments from a brief…
HR told me I was fired for not losing my religion
Well, not me. But, a former employee claimed it happened to him. So, let’s cue R.E.M. and talk about religious expression in the workplace. According to the complaint filed in federal court, the plaintiff had the chops to succeed at his job. However, a new manager, “by his derogatory language…
“This case arises from a workplace romance.” It began as “an affair” when “they were not yet colleagues, only lovers.”
Kind of sounds like the start of a beautiful movie or novel, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, however, it became more Lady Gaga. Or, more precisely, the writings of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals adjudicating an on-again-off-again sexual relationship between the “lovers” who became “colleagues” in the “workplace” and, later, plaintiff and…
Mark your calendars for two FREE employment law webinars this month.
I receive email alerts from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that include information on upcoming webinars. Most of them cost money to attend. But every once in a while, there’s a freebie. Like this one. “Navigating Pregnancy and Nursing for Working Mothers” Starting today, the EEOC and the U.S.…