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The Employer Handbook BlogCould your business require medical exams for all workers returning from extended leave?
Some of you are clutching your pearls and mouthing, “God, I hope so.” Continue reading
Sexual harassment? No, I was just asking for a co-worker’s opinion about my butt lesions.
Does the spike in remote work arrangements over the past few years mean the end of wacky sexual harassment cases?
Yeah, right!
Gas attendant loses his job over a decimal point error; tries to repay the station.
One of my biggest fears — an employment lawyer neuroticism — is that I will draft a settlement agreement in which I misplace the decimal point or accidentally add a zero, thus turning a $15,000.00 settlement into a $15,000,000 settlement. Continue reading
A federal appellate court made it difficult to blame ’20-’21 large layoffs on COVID-19
Days since I’ve blogged about COVID-19 = 78 0. Continue reading
What would make an HR expert allegedly compare this company’s workplace culture to a “sewer”?
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission caught a whiff, sued the employer in December, and just announced a $361,000 settlement for seven current and former female employees. Continue reading
Yes, it’s still ok in NJ to have a non-disparagement provision when settling discrimination claims.
Back in March 2019, the State of New Jersey passed a law that makes any non-disclosure provisions in an employment contract or settlement agreement that have the purpose or effect of concealing the details relating to a claim of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment unenforceable against a current or former employee who is a party to the contract or settlement. I wrote about it here. Continue reading
Is sexual harassment of a victim behind her back against the law?
Over the weekend, I caught up on a few older cases I had intended to blog about earlier. The one today on which I’ll focus has some “disturbing facts.”
At least that’s how one of the Fifth Circuit judges deciding the case viewed them: Continue reading
Judge, my employer is so biased. They keep promoting me. 😲
That’s effectively the argument the plaintiff, an openly gay man, made in this case.
Taxation without representation (and a new workplace marijuana law possibly coming soon).
On Monday, I blogged here about an employee using CBD for her migraines who accused her employer of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. It fired her after she tested positive for marijuana on a drug test at work. One of my takeaways from the post was that particular state and local laws may raise the bar for terminating someone who uses medical or recreational marijuana outside of work.
Well, I’m going to assume that the City Council of Washington, D.C. read my blog and was helping me prove my point. Continue reading
The law doesn’t require a perfect response to harassment complaints. It just needs to be good enough.
What I’ve got for you today is another hostile work environment decision. But, unlike yesterday’s general civility code violation, well short of the pervasive or severe behavior that could interfere with an employee’s working conditions, today’s is a doozy. We’re talking about four instances of racial harassment: an offensive note, a noose, a written threat in the plaintiff’s locker, and then another noose.
And, yet, the plaintiff lost this case too. Continue reading