Close

The Employer Handbook Blog

Updated:

Toxic From the Top Down: Shocking New EEOC Lawsuit Alleges Owner-Led Culture of Harassment and Retaliation

  This isn’t a story about a rogue employee—it’s about the person running the show. TL;DR: The EEOC has filed a Title VII lawsuit against the owner of a hospitality group in Hawaii, alleging he subjected teenage and adult female employees to years of sexual harassment—much of it in front…

Updated:

A federal judge just remanded a wage-and-hour case, and used two Simpsons references to do it. That’s enough to embiggen my blogging motivation.

This isn’t just a cromulent decision—it’s a reminder that attorneys’ fees can’t be used to shoehorn a small state wage claim into federal court. TL;DR: A federal judge in Pennsylvania kicked a wage-and-hour case back to state court after finding that the employer couldn’t show more than $75,000 was at…

Updated:

Fired Over $15. Or Was It the HR Complaints?

Fired Over $15. Or Was It the HR Complaints? A laundromat worker reimbursed herself $15 from the register for a taxi fare—something she claimed was standard practice with a receipt. Three days later, she was fired. But because she had just complained about racial harassment, disability discrimination, and unpaid wages,…

Updated:

Equal Pay, FLSA, and a $3.27M Verdict: Jury Sides with Fired Chief People Officer in Her Retaliation Case Against A Law Firm

You’d expect a company to listen when its Chief People Officer—especially one with nearly three decades of labor and employment law experience—raises concerns about compliance. Instead, this employer—a law firm—reassigned her shortly thereafter and fired her within the week of returning from bereavement leave. A jury just awarded her $3.27…

Updated:

Can a Judge Make Lawyers Attend “Religious Liberty Training”? This Court Said Nope.

A recent Fifth Circuit decision offers a pointed reminder to employers, litigators, and trial courts alike: enforcement authority has limits—even after a verdict. At the center of the controversy? A court-ordered “religious liberty training” imposed on a corporate defendant’s attorneys by a judge dissatisfied with how the company communicated a…

Updated:

🎤 “Star Treatment, Solid Contracts” – Happening Today at Noon!

Whether you’re drafting agreements for a C-suite hire, a high-profile consultant, or a VIP client, there are legal landmines everywhere—from misclassification to IP disputes. Today, we’re tackling them all. TL;DR: Join me and attorney Merlyne Jean-Louis for a free Zoom session at 12 PM ET today—Friday, May 9, 2025—as we…

Updated:

Trump’s EEOC nomination could break the deadlock—and reshape enforcement

After months of legal gridlock, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is about to get its quorum back—and a Republican majority with it. TL;DR: President Trump has nominated Brittany Bull Panuccio to serve as the third commissioner on the EEOC. Her confirmation would restore the Commission’s quorum and create a 2–1…