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The Employer Handbook Blog
An employee worked 816 hours of overtime. The employer still didn’t owe it.
Can an employee secretly rack up overtime and sue for it later?
The Fifth Circuit says not without proof that the employer knew or should have known about those hours. Continue reading
Can employers make employees sign a contract shortening the time to bring Title VII and ADEA claims?
Some employers try. The Fourth Circuit just explained why that trick doesn’t work for these federal discrimination claims. Continue reading
What the Starbucks Decision Means For Employer DEI Efforts
By now, you’ve likely seen coverage of the Missouri Attorney General’s lawsuit challenging Starbucks’ DEI initiatives.
The opinion’s value lies in its doctrinal clarity. It illustrates how established discrimination law applies when DEI-related practices are challenged — and what employers should consider to reduce legal risk when designing and implementing those programs. Continue reading
Turning a Restructure into Discrimination? She Couldn’t.
A manager allegedly makes racially inappropriate jokes. Months later, the company eliminates a position in a nationwide cost-cutting initiative and reduces an employee’s hours. So she sues for race discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment.
But she loses. Continue reading
You Can’t Call It a Salary If It’s Just One Day’s Pay
If your FLSA exemption strategy depends on a minimum one- or two-day guarantee, this decision should get your attention.
The Fifth Circuit just rejected that structure under the statute’s salary-basis test. Continue reading
Mechanical Bull Bartending and the Age Bias Lawsuit That Never Got Off the Ground
The job requirements were… a lot: craft-beer exams, choreography, flair tricks, social media posts, and a “weight proportional to height” standard. Oh, and a mechanical bull. Eighteen longtime bartenders said the whole thing skewed younger. The court said their lawsuit had a more basic problem. Continue reading
Is Your Hiring Assessment a Lie Detector in Disguise? It Could Be a Class Action Time Bomb⏰💣
Many employers rely on hiring assessments to gauge fit. But what if those tools are viewed as unlawful lie detector tests? A recent Massachusetts ruling should give you pause before you rely on a “workstyle” assessment. Continue reading
DOL Proposes New Independent Contractor Rule: Now With Fewer “It Depends”
Yesterday, the Department of Labor announced a new proposal on independent contractor classification. If finalized, the proposal would once again reshape how employers evaluate whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under federal law. Continue reading
The Civil Case That Brings Some Sanity to the AI Privilege Debate
A federal court recently rejected an attempt to force a litigant to turn over information about her use of ChatGPT in a pending employment lawsuit.
Yes. Information about her AI use.
In a civil case, one side moved to compel “all documents and information concerning [the plaintiff’s] use of third-party AI tools in connection with this lawsuit.” The court said no. Continue reading