In employment discrimination cases where a defendant-employer articulates a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employment action, the plaintiff has the burden then shifts to the plaintiff-employee to establish that the employer’s reason was a pretext for discrimination, i.e., the defendant’s reason for, say, terminating the plaintiff’s employment is false. Without…
“An employer’s free speech right to comment upon matters that affect the business is firmly established,” noted a Vermont federal judge earlier this month. “But when such commentary is a threat of retaliation … it is without the protection of the First Amendment.” That’s fancy speak for employers can’t use…
Yesterday, several employer groups and associations filed a federal lawsuit in the same court that, in 2017, stymied the U.S. Department of Labor‘s efforts to change the overtime rules by raising the minimum salary level needed to be exempt from receiving overtime. As I’ll explain below, the 2024 plaintiffs have…
Yesterday, a federal appellate court issued a precedential opinion clarifying when employers must pay employees and provide certain benefits while they take short-term military leave under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”). USERRA is a federal law that protects servicemembers’ and veterans’ civilian employment rights.…
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently issued two press releases: one announcing a disability discrimination lawsuit and another about a recent settlement of age and disability discrimination claims. Both involve supervisors who allegedly thought they knew more than medical professionals. They were wrong. In the pending lawsuit, the EEOC…
A single incident, like a supervisor calling a black employee the “n” word, may be enough to create a hostile work environment. But what if the victim doesn’t witness it? For example, in a recent federal court decision, the plaintiff, a black man, testified in his deposition that his supervisor…
The New Jersey Supreme Court has weighed in not once but twice this month on important employment law issues. So, if you operate a business in the Garden State, I’ll bring you up to speed on that, plus some new pending legislation. (For the rest of you, have a nice…
Earlier this week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told a Texas federal judge to block the Federal Trade Commission’s final Noncompete Rule, which would impose a comprehensive ban on new noncompetes with all workers, including senior executives. Here is a link to the 40-page brief. But I’ll break it down for you in…
Earlier this month, a federal appellate court addressed a few situations involving retaliation claims in the workplace in which parties (and sometimes courts) may misapply the law, namely, Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964. So, let’s clear this up. A retaliation claim has three elements: a protected activity,…
If your business provides a self-funded health insurance plan to its employees, that health plan covers “medically necessary” services, and you’re not keen on defending sex discrimination claims, then keep reading. Yesterday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that an employer cannot exclude coverage for…