The Employer Handbook Blog

DOL provides guidance on home care workers and law firm internships

September 18, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

I remember back in the good old days, when law-firm internships meant private jets, caviar lunches and….toilet paper? As if!.

But now, times are tougher. Some firms find themselves forced to forego paying law students in lieu of offering volunteer pro bono opportunities to enable them to receive work experience. This recent advice letter from the Department of Labor sorts out the circumstances in which not paying these interns will pass muster on the Fair Labor Standards Act.

But the DOL wasn’t done there. Yesterday, it announced a final rule extending the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime protections to most of the nation’s workers who provide essential home care assistance to elderly people and people with illnesses, injuries or disabilities. There is also a new set of answer to Frequently Asked Questions here.

How ordering cheesesteaks can help employers with disability-accommodation requests

September 17, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

In Philadelphia, we’re known for certain things, such as cheesesteaks. Ordering the cheesesteak is a bit of an art form. For example, I could order a “Cheese steak, with Cheez Whiz and fried onions.”

Or, I could simply say, “Cheese wit.” As most anyone around her knows that Cheez Whiz is the default “cheese” and “wit” means “with fried onions.

[Those of you who are giving me that disdainful Cheez Whiz stink face through your computer — right back at ya, when you order the “Philly Cheesesteak” on your local dinner menu. For there is nothing “Philly” or “Cheesesteak” about that sludge, right down to the Swiss cheese and mayo. Ya heathen!]

Lady Gaga may owe her former assistant a lot of unpaid OT

September 16, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

We’re talking a lot of money honey.

[Bravo, Eric. You couldn’t even make it one line without a stupid Gaga pun].

Pun free after the jump…

* * *

Body shots + booty shorts + live office sex = no sexual harassment

September 13, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Sounds like one crazy party. Or just another Thursday at the Pine Woods Apartments.

Kristen Glemser had no idea…

On December 7, 2006, Kristen Glemser, a marketing/leasing agent for Pine Woods showed up for work, just like she would any other day. Except that some of the ladies in the office had planned a small party of one of Ms. Glemser’s female co-workers.

EEOC Commissioner Feldblum provides answers on obesity as an ADA disability

September 12, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

About two years ago, the EEOC sued a Texas company, alleging that the company engaged in disability discrimination, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, when it fired a 680-pound worker because he was morbidly obese. The EEOC alleged that the employee’s immense weight interfered with his ability to walk, stand, kneel, stoop, lift and breathe. Consequently, he was disabled, as defined under the ADA.

Since then, at least one court has recognized that morbid obesity may be a disability, while another court held that, under state law, morbid obesity is not a disability. It was right around this time that the American Medical Association adopted a new policy that officially labels obesity — not morbid obesity, but obesity — as a disease.

So how does employee obesity impact employers under the ADA?

Waitress suspended for posting racist customer receipt on Facebook

September 11, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

It’s a story that first made news over the weekend and is quickly picking up steam, ironically, because of social media.

A customer at a Tennessee Red Lobster restaurant allegedly left a racist message on a receipt. An African American waitress subsequently posted the receipt to Facebook with the message:

“This is what I got as a tip last night…so happy to live in the proud southern states..God Bless America, land of the free and home of the low class racists of Tennessee”

A supervisor’s swine flu death wish on an older employee leads to an age bias claim

September 10, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Yesterday, our guest blogger offered three tips for successful onboarding.

Unable to match that, today, I have a less than successful way to encourage attrition — unless of course you like defending age discrimination claims.

A federal court has permitted a plaintiff’s claims that his ex-employer created a age-based hostile work environment to proceed to trial. And, get a load of the supervisor stupidity:

GUEST POST: Three keys to maximizing your onboarding success

September 9, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Holly DePalma. Holly is Director, HR Services at MidAtlantic Employers’ Association, a single source for HR services, delivering responsive, practical solutions to its members.

(Want to guest blog on an employment-law topic at The Employer Handbook? Email me).

* * *

Under the ADA, even a 15-minute task may be an essential job function

September 6, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

15 circle Kolja Vraniskoska worked as an Environmental Services Technician for Franciscan Communities, Inc., a nursing home. Ms. Vran– (eh, let’s go with Ms. V) — had several responsibilities as an ES Tech, one of which was pushing and unloading a linen cart. Franciscan required that each ES Tech take a linen cart stocked with fresh linens and transport it from the laundry to their unit by pushing or pulling it down the hall. During the day, the linen cart remained stationary as the ES Tech took fresh linens from the cart. At the end of the day, the ES Tech had to push the linen cart back to the laundry. Transporting the linen cart took approximately fifteen minutes each day.

Ms. V gets hurt

During the course of her employment, Ms. V suffered a wrist injury. Initially, during recovery, her doctor advised that Ms. V should not use her left hand at all. So, Franciscan allowed Ms. V to perform light duty. Eventually, Ms. V’s wrist improved to the point where should could lift up to five pounds. But, her condition never improved. So, Franciscan, which had a policy of providing temporary light duty during recovery, told Ms. V that she had 45 days in which to find another suitable position within the company, or be fired.

Jury awards $280K to black female called N-word — by her black boss

September 5, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

A black employee who claimed that her boss, also black, called her the n-word eight times, had her day in court recently, as she put her race discrimination claims to a federal jury.

The defense argued that the use of the n-word here was culturally acceptable because both the “victim” and the “harasser” black. But, during closing argument, the plaintiff’s attorney told jurors, “When you use the word [the n-word] to an African-American, no matter how many alternative definitions that you may try to substitute with the [n-word], that is no different than calling a Hispanic by the worst possible word you can call a Hispanic, calling a homosexual male the worst possible word that you can call a homosexual male.”

The jury agreed with the plaintiff. Larry Neumeister at The Huffington Post reports here, that the jury awarded the plaintiff $30,000 in punitive damages and $250,000 in compensatory damages.