It was bound to happen. Early last year, just before the change in presidential administrations, the U.S. Department of Labor passed a final rule, which amended the regulations interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act to include some language finally distinguishing independent contractors from employees. I wrote all about it here.…
The Employer Handbook Blog
Not all discrimination lawsuits against airlines are worth $5M.
This one (unlike that one) wasn’t even worth five cents. I suppose that’s what happens when you work for an airline and claim gender discrimination after getting fired for posting this publicly on your personal Facebook page: If I were Black in America, I think I’d get down on my…
In at least one court, employees don’t need doctors to establish ADA disabilities
How broad is the Americans with Disabilities Act‘s definition of “disability”? It’s so broad, concluded the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in this recent decision, that an employee can show that he is disabled based on his say-so. The plaintiff was the Chief Electrical Inspector of a municipality. In October 2014,…
They wanted to hire “Ken and Barbie.” What they got was a discrimination lawsuit instead.
Today, we will have a lesson on the differences between “direct” and “circumstantial” evidence of discrimination. Plaintiffs may prove discrimination through direct evidence, circumstantial evidence, or both. Circumstantial evidence allows the factfinder to infer discrimination. For example, a company fires a black employee for sleeping on the job but doesn’t…
Just because a manager is a crude jerk doesn’t mean he broke the law too
It takes a lot to establish what the law considers a hostile work environment. A former warehouse manager learned this lesson the hard way when a federal judge dismissed her complaint with prejudice before she even got the chance to take any discovery. Here are the facts of the case…
Can a company fire someone whom it believes will join a pending wage and hour class action against it?
It depends. Suppose the company is firing the employee for poor performance, which has nothing to do with the underlying lawsuit that someone else filed. In that case, the termination would not violate the Fair Labor Standard Act’s antiretaliation provision, which makes it unlawful to retaliate against an employee for…
Unions: Fad or Trend? Join Jon Hyman and me on Zoom on October 14, 2022 at Noon ET. It’s FREE!
American support for labor unions is at its highest level in over 50 years, and most non-union workers would consider joining a union. With the increased popularity of organized labor and the National Labor Relations Board making it easier for unions to organize and employees to show union support, are…
Can an alleged harasser sue a workplace investigator for defamation if the report says not-so-nice stuff?
Here’s a situation that may arise from time to time. Perhaps, you’ve dealt with it too. One employee complains to the company about a co-worker’s alleged unwanted sexual contact in the workplace. So, what does the company do? Title VII Of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (and any number…
We’re back! Today, at Noon ET, it’s The Employer Handbook Zoom Happy Hour: “Offboarding the C-Suite.”
Remember when we used to hang out on Friday afternoons on Zoom and talk about employment law? It wasn’t as dorky as it sounds. We called it The Employer Handbook Zoom Happy Hour. I usually had a few guests presenting with me. But there were no PowerPoints. Actually, it was…
The lawyers, man, sometimes they screw everything up.
That’s the vibe I got from reading this recent Fifth Circuit decision affirming the lower court’s dismissal of age discrimination claims. The plaintiff was one of five Zone Human Resources Directors (ZHRDs) for the defendant. Each ZHRD had its own zone. In 2018, the defendant decided that each ZHRD would…