The 2024 overtime rule is officially gone from the federal rulebook. Courts killed it a year and a half ago; the DOL just got around to the paperwork.
The court called it “repugnant and racially hostile.” It still wasn’t enough. A recent appellate decision affirming summary judgment for the employer on a hostile work environment claim is a useful reminder of how high the severe-or-pervasive bar actually is.
The bar for a hostile work environment claim is “extremely high.” A White correctional officer just found out how high.
One pilot called in sick with the flu and went skiing. He also called in with a knee injury and flew military jets the same day. The other pilot claimed he was too sick to fly and then flew jets for the military instead. The Eleventh Circuit says the airline was right to push them both out.
Fail any one of the three prongs of New Jersey’s ABC test, and the worker is your employee. The Department of Labor adopted new independent contractor rules on May 5, making that standard official in binding regulation, and employers have until October 1 to get their contractor relationships in order.
A school district police officer posted a prayer on Facebook criticizing his supervisors. He was fired. His lawsuit raised constitutional claims, a retaliation claim, and a religious discrimination claim. The Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal on all of them, and the reasons why are a useful lesson for any employer.
When does a religious exemption request stop being religious? A federal appeals court just answered that question in a way that eight of its own judges found alarming.
A 19-year employee couldn’t reach his FMLA administrator. The phone system hung up on callers at 5 p.m. An HR rep told him not to worry. Then he was fired for dishonest FMLA reporting.
A warehouse worker started her job seven months pregnant. Thirteen weeks after delivering, she was fired. One sentence from the HR rep is why this case is going to trial.
An employee who says “I’m not disabled” can’t turn around and sue for failure to accommodate a disability. The Sixth Circuit just confirmed that’s true even when the employer is the one who raised the disability question in the first place.
The Employer Handbook Blog