Performance improvement plans are often treated as neutral management tools. This case shows how quickly a PIP can become the centerpiece of a retaliation claim once an employee raises equity concerns. Continue reading
Not every denied accommodation becomes a viable lawsuit. Courts are still asking a simple threshold question before a discrimination case goes anywhere. Continue reading
Pay equity disputes are rarely about a single salary decision. They turn on whether an employer’s explanation for a pay gap holds together once the facts are examined.
A recent Seventh Circuit decision shows how reorganizations that blend promotions and transfers into the same role can expose cracks in that explanation. Continue reading
In Groundhog Day, the problem isn’t that the day repeats. It’s that nothing changes. At one point, Phil Connors captures the frustration perfectly: “What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today.”
That same problem shows up when employers investigate complaints about a supervisor, conclude the conduct is not actionable, and then respond the same way each time the issue resurfaces. Continue reading
Whistleblower cases do not begin with evidence and proof. They begin with allegations. If those allegations are plausible, employers get forced into discovery. Under CEPA, that bar is very low. Continue reading
Hiring can feel like a checklist: background check, drug test, start date. But when an applicant raises a disability-related issue, those boxes stop being routine, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) starts asking questions. Continue reading
If retaliation claims could be proven just by pointing to an employer’s handbook, summary judgment would be extinct. This court made clear that policies don’t replace proof. Continue reading
Most employment cases fall apart because the evidence is thin or the comparators don’t line up.
This one fell apart because of what the employee herself admitted – under oath. Continue reading
The EEOC just pulled the plug on its most comprehensive harassment guidance. Some federal guardrails are gone, but the law is not – and neither are employers’ obligations. Continue reading
Deciding too early that accommodation is impossible can shape everything that follows. This case shows why courts often let juries sort it out.
In a recent ADA decision from the Northern District of Illinois, an employer decided an injured employee could not return as a bus operator under her medical restrictions. After that decision, the employer relied on its absence-without-leave policy to terminate her. The court refused to end the case at summary judgment. Continue reading
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