Courts see plenty of promotion disputes that boil down to one familiar complaint: I should have gotten the job.The Fourth Circuit just explained why that argument usually is not enough. TL;DR: In a published decision, the Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for an employer facing a Title VII failure-to-promote claim.…
On January 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued six opinion letters addressing a range of FMLA and FLSA issues. This post – part three of a three-part series – covers the final two letters, both under the FLSA, and both aimed at assumptions employers…
On January 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued six opinion letters addressing a range of FMLA and FLSA issues. This post – part two of a three-part series – focuses on two FLSA letters that address problems employers often assume they have already…
Two different HR questions triggered two formal FMLA opinion letters this week – and both answers will feel uncomfortably familiar to the employers they affect. On January 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued six new opinion letters in total, addressing a mix of FMLA…
At a moment when federal agencies are actively dismantling disparate impact enforcement as a policy matter, New Jersey just went in the opposite direction – loudly, deliberately, and in writing. Last month, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights finalized new rules that spell out how disparate impact claims…
After employment claims ran their course, a stockholder tried a new angle: dressing up workplace harassment as a fiduciary-duty lawsuit. The court wasn’t persuaded. TL;DR: A court dismissed with prejudice a stockholder derivative lawsuit that tried to reframe a director’s and former officer’s workplace harassment as a breach of the…
Before the champagne pops and the Slack notifications finally stop, it’s worth pausing to reflect on what actually defined the workplace this year. Not the initiatives. Not the slogans. The refrains. Some of these are healthy habits. Others are the phrases that tend to show up right before…
Safety policies should protect workplaces, not produce eight-figure ADA exposure. This case shows how a rigid medical rule, applied without individualized assessment, can turn a routine injury into a litigation disaster. TL;DR: A jury found that an employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Oregon disability law by enforcing…
Employers often try to manage overtime by adjusting schedules, staffing, or compensation models. What they cannot do is manage overtime by adjusting the “regular rate” in a way that only shows up when overtime does. That distinction mattered here. TL;DR: A federal appeals court affirmed summary judgment for an employee…
A Helpful Guide for People About to Hit “Send” Anyway Despite decades of evidence, some professionals continue to believe Christmas Eve is an appropriate time to introduce new thoughts into the workplace. It is not. For those who remain uncertain, what follows is a non-exhaustive list of email subject lines…