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Articles Posted in Hiring & Firing

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A new bill will greenlight federal employment for marijuana users

Tomorrow, I’ll be presenting “Weeding through the Haze: State and Federal Marijuana Laws and Implications” at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s 2023 EXCEL Training Conference in Washington, DC. Between now and then, I’ll need to update my slide deck. That’s because, last week, Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and Congresswoman…

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Yes, you must comply with the Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights in New Jersey

In February 2023, the State of New Jersey enacted a law that a federal judge described as “novel and landmark legislation aimed at protecting a ‘particularly vulnerable’ workforce from abusive labor practices.” It’s called the Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights. The judge described the Act as “impos[ing] a variety of…

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I found a case where an employee’s First Amendment rights were violated. Almost.

Let’s change up the facts from yesterday’s “free speech” blog post. Today’s plaintiff works for a public employer rather than a private one. She’s a lawyer running for political office. Instead of a racist Facebook post, the trouble brewed after she appeared on a public political podcast and stated that…

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Here’s an FMLA interference case that Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld would appreciate

In early 2020, an employee at a global food supplier left work early with flu-like symptoms. That day she obtained a doctor’s note recommending that she “stay out of work for three days, from February 19-21, 2020.” The employee requested to have five days off to recuperate. However, the note…

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Have you ever had 65 employees seek FMLA at the same time with the same doctor’s notes?

On June 16, 2017, an employer issued furlough notices to employees at its West Virginia facility. Over the following weeks, 65 or so employees submitted forms requesting to take medical leave based on claimed minor soft-tissue injuries sustained while off duty. The forms were similar in content; all were signed…

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He got fired after threatening to complain to HR. Could that be retaliation?

The plaintiff in this federal court decision I read last night didn’t exactly come off as a model employee. According to the decision, others reported that the plaintiff, a security officer and transportation driver, took extended lunch breaks, made unauthorized stops while making product deliveries (including a car dealership to purchase a…