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I’m speaking figuratively, of course. Taxpayer dollars do not support judges bruising and battering litigants who appear in court.

However, the defendant is probably still smarting from this recent Fifth Circuit decision, in which the court overturned a lower court ruling dismissing the plaintiff’s claims that the defendant failed to accommodate his religious beliefs. Continue reading

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Many of you accumulate vacation days at work throughout the year. So did the plaintiff in this recent federal court decision. She alleged that when her employer denied her requests to use her unused, accrued vacation in 2018 and 2019, it discriminated against her based on her sex, seemingly because it allowed other men to use vacation on the dates she wanted.

Is that sex discrimination? Continue reading

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An employee who claims retaliation in federal court must demonstrate they suffered treatment was “materially adverse,” i.e., something that could reasonably have dissuaded a reasonable worker from participating in a protected activity, like complaining about discrimination.

Last night, I read a decision from a federal judge in New York weighing allegations that the plaintiff’s supervisors knew the plaintiff had filed several EEO complaints and then retaliated against her.

But were the acts of retaliation “materially adverse”? Not really. No.

Continue reading

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The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the federal wage and hour law that protects all covered workers from substandard wages and oppressive working hours by requiring that employers pay employees minimum wage and overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek.

Determining who counts as an employee is a fact-specific. The ultimate determination turns on the “economic reality” of the relationship between the parties involved.

Continue reading

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Chances are, if one of your employees complained externally about discrimination, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was all up in your company’s business. Perhaps your business has had the not-so-good fortune of undergoing a Fair Labor Standards Act or Family and Medical Leave Act audit from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Late last week, the two federal watchdogs announced a partnership. Continue reading

“Doing What’s Right – Not Just What’s Legal”
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