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The Employer Handbook Blog

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The Supreme Court just buried class-action arbitration of employment claims*

Image Credit: Photofunia.com (http://photofunia.com/results/5cc10d55846d7897318b4581) In 2010, the Supreme Court held in Stolt-Nielsen SA v. AnimalFeeds International that a court may not compel class-action arbitration when an arbitration agreement is silent on the availability of such arbitration. Last year, in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the Supreme Court issued another employer-friendly…

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A heterosexual employee sued for sexual-orientation discrimination. Really?!?

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/photos/question-question-mark-survey-2736480/) Oh, did I mention that the plaintiff was the HR Manager? Bruh… And she made an incendiary Facebook post. Well, that I can believe. (I’m friends on Facebook with several HR folks.) Then again, I don’t recall seeing a post like this. Let’s check out the…

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Why was there an employment law trending on Twitter yesterday? Oh, I think I know.

Image Credit: https://pixabay.com/en/pride-gay-nyc-new-york-city-flag-2444813/ The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the prohibition against sex discrimination in Title VII also covers discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In other words, are there LGBT legal rights in the workplace? I should be on my third keyboard with all of…

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How in the world did a DEAD person get suspended for racist behavior?!?

Uncredited [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsNot only that but two different employers disciplined the same dead person on the same day. Last Friday, I was on the road in Cleveland doing some anti-harassment training for managers and supervisors. Minutes before my second session, I glanced down at my phone to…

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The readers have three follow-up ADA questions about job applications. Let’s answer them.

Request Leave Coolie Writing Tool Pen Application (https://www.maxpixel.net/Request-Leave-Coolie-Writing-Tool-Pen-Application-1915347) On Wednesday, I blogged, “If your job applications look anything like this, well, damn, you’ve got some ADA problems.” “This” was a medical questionnaire that inquired about certain medical conditions, whether the employee had an impairment or disability, and whether the employee…

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Yes, you can be fired for cursing about clients in the office bathroom

MarkBuckawicki [CC0], via Wikimedia CommonsIf I were the boss, I’d fire anyone for talking in a public office restroom. Period. Full stop. But, carrying on and cursing about clients of the company is certainly a terminable offense. Just ask the National Labor Relations Board. Here’s the setup: Two employees entered…

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If your job applications look anything like this, well, damn, you’ve got some ADA problems.

Request Leave Coolie Writing Tool Pen Application (https://www.maxpixel.net/Request-Leave-Coolie-Writing-Tool-Pen-Application-1915347) I remember once I had a colleague asked me to review an addendum to a job application for a client to make sure it was all good and legal. It wasn’t. There were four questions on the addendum: Do you have a…

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Does an employee have an ADA ‘disability’ if it substantially limits the major life activity of ‘working’?

Image Credit: Pexels.com (https://www.pexels.com/photo/working-in-a-group-6224/) Ever since the amendments to the Americans with Disability Act took effect in 2009, management-side employment lawyers have preached to clients that they should focus more on accommodating a disability rather than whether an employee has a disability in the first place. But, what if you…

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285,000 reasons that your company president shouldn’t ridicule an employee with a disability. Especially not in email.

Lorimar Productions/NBC [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsIn 1976, Sally Field played Sybil in the eponymous TV movie. Sybil was a teacher who suffered a breakdown in front of her students, only to be diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. Throughout the movie, Sybil exhibits multiple personalities — 16 in all. Some…

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NYC is going to ban pre-employment marijuana drug screening. How do you feel about that?

User:Jennifer Martin [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia CommonsEarlier this week, the New York City Council approved this bill, which will make it unlawful for most NYC employers to require any job candidate to submit to testing for the presence of any tetrahydrocannabinols or marijuana in such prospective employee’s system as…