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The Employer Handbook Blog

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Jury Finds Age Discrimination Against HR Manager, Awards Enough for a Gallon of Gas (Unleaded, Not Premium)

He proved age discrimination. The jury agreed. Then they awarded him $3. One dollar for back pay, one for front pay, and one for emotional distress. No, this wasn’t small claims court. But it might as well have been. TL;DR: A Michigan jury found that a former HR Manager was…

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DOL Revives Its “Amnesty” Program to Help Employers Dodge Wage Disputes

It’s one of the few government programs that rewards employers for doing the right thing before getting sued. TL;DR: The U.S. Department of Labor has relaunched the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program. PAID allows employers to voluntarily disclose and correct federal wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act…

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A trucking company rejected a deaf driver and got hit with a $36 million verdict—here’s what employers can learn.

  When a trucking company told a deaf applicant, “No, I’m sorry, we can’t hire you because of your deafness,” it wasn’t just a bad look—it was a multimillion-dollar ADA violation. The jury awarded $36 million (later capped), and the appeals court backed it up. TL;DR: A trucking company refused…

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Requesting an Accommodation Shouldn’t Be a Black Box

  An employee requested a medical exemption from a workplace policy but refused to provide adequate documentation or let her provider clarify her condition. A federal appeals court found that was enough to end the interactive process—and the employer’s obligation. TL;DR: A recent Fourth Circuit decision confirms that the ADA’s…

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🎯 Trump’s NLRB Picks Could Change the Rules for Many Workplaces

President Trump has nominated Scott Mayer and James Murphy to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). If the Senate confirms them, it would give the Board a quorum—enough members to start issuing decisions again—and likely shift the Board’s direction to more pro-employer outcomes. TL;DR: Trump just nominated two…

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When Off-Duty Speech Crosses the Line: Lessons for Private Employers from a Public Employee’s Termination

What happens when an employee posts something offensive online—off the clock, but under their real name—and it causes a workplace backlash? In one recent case, a government communications staffer wrote an inflammatory blog post opposing the Equality Act. The language he used was graphic and anti-LGBTQ+. The employer received complaints,…

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Questionable Absences, Point-Based Discipline, and a Hard FMLA Lesson

A transit agency thought it had a clear-cut reason to fire an employee under its no-fault attendance policy. But a disputed call-out, followed by a retroactive FMLA approval, now means a jury gets to decide whether the termination was lawful. TL;DR: A bus driver with a chronic medical condition was…

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LIVE ZOOM PANEL: How the One Big Beautiful Bill Will Impact Your Workforce (July 24 at Noon ET)

Where have I been? I took a short break from July 4 through July 14 to spend some time offline on vacation with my family. Thanks for your patience—and I promise this one was worth the wait. The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) became law on July 4—and with it,…