Like almost every federal agency, things have certainly changed at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the last 10 months. One of those significant changes has been the departure from investigation of claims asserting the “disparate impact” theory. A plaintiff in a disparate impact case, generally speaking, must show that a seemingly neutral policy
What happens when the NLRB asks a federal court to remand a case back to the Board based on a new case holding to interpret the matter before it, the court does so, and then the Board pulls a “bait and switch” to flat out reject the very case authority it based its request on?
If you transfer an employee to a job with no loss in pay or title but the employee thinks it is less desirable, can that employee sue you for discrimination under Title VII? While it depends on the facts, in Muldrow v. St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court held that an employee challenging a
Someone who works in the home of their employer as a nanny or in another domestic service role is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) wage requirements, right? Not according to Blanco v. Samuel, a recent 11th Circuit opinion that reversed the district court’s ruling that a live-in employee was exempt.
If you don’t already know, Starbucks has been in a pretty big labor dispute, and there are bound to be lessons for all of us. If your company has internal documents about relations with prospective unions, you may have to disclose them in a labor dispute even though pre-hearing discovery is generally not available. You
Are PhD students at a private university who also teach courses and grade papers – tasks that are a part of their development but also certainly assist the university – employees who can unionize? The NLRB said yes for a second time. This trend that allows unionization of employees who were once thought to be
If the NLRB finds that you have committed an unfair labor practice (and maybe more than once), just what can it do? In Noah’s Ark Processors, a three-member panel of the board recently took an opportunity to pronounce available punishments for repeat labor offenders, and it was not shy. An administrative law judge determined
Most of us know that when an employee or visitor to a place of public accommodation requests a reasonable accommodation, the ADA requires an interactive process to make an individualized determination. But what about a request from a nursing intern to bring her service dog… to a hospital… around patients? Could this qualify as a
In Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Int’l Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 174, the Washington Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether a union is responsible for property damage incident to a strike. How does that issue arise? Let’s just suppose that your company is involved in a bitter labor negotiation with the unionized workforce.
With historically low unemployment rates, attracting and retaining top talent can be a challenge for employers. To distinguish themselves from the pack, many companies are considering tuition assistance programs to both develop their workforce and as a benefit to attract and retain talented employees. Although the offer of student loan assistance might give you a