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. TL;DR: The EEOC has rescinded its 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The statutes prohibiting harassment did not change, but…
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…
A single recruiting phone call. No application. No interview. And yet, enough evidence for a federal judge to let an ADA hiring case move forward. TL;DR: A federal court in North Carolina refused to throw out an ADA hiring case brought by the EEOC after a recruiter allegedly shut down…
When an employee’s health takes a turn, the instinct is to be flexible. The legal risk is assuming flexibility means you cannot enforce expectations. TL;DR: The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for a county employer that ended a probationary employee’s employment after documenting performance problems, even though the employee…
Governor Murphy just expanded the New Jersey Family Leave Act. It reads cleanly in the statute. It reads a little differently once you try to apply it to real people and real leave requests. These amendments are not cosmetic. They expand coverage, accelerate employee eligibility, and formally connect NJFLA to…
Wage-and-hour disputes often come down to one deceptively simple question: when does paid work actually begin? A recent Eleventh Circuit decision draws some clear – and employer-friendly – lines around travel time, tool time, and waiting time under the Fair Labor Standards Act. TL;DR: The Eleventh Circuit held that…
No-hire agreements have quietly lived in vendor and service contracts for years. The FTC has now made clear that they are an active antitrust enforcement target. TL;DR: The Federal Trade Commission entered a consent order prohibiting a company from using no-hire agreements in customer contracts. The FTC treated those provisions…
Constructive discharge is one of the most misunderstood concepts in employment law. Employees often assume that feeling sidelined, embarrassed, or treated unfairly is enough to turn a resignation into a legal claim. Courts, however, continue to apply a far stricter standard – one that looks past discomfort and focuses on…
HR professionals do not have a crystal ball. When an employee files an EEOC charge, no employer can predict how that dispute might later be reframed in a lawsuit or expanded with new legal theories. A recent Fourth Circuit decision recognizes that reality, while still reinforcing something practical…
Employers often worry that a good-faith effort to keep an injured employee working will later be used against them as proof they “could have accommodated” the employee indefinitely. A recent Sixth Circuit decision draws a clear line between temporary flexibility and permanent obligation. TL;DR: The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment…