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The Employer Handbook Blog

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89,000 reasons to take a more holistic approach to workplace accommodations

Image Credit: photofunia.com Here’s a reminder from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for employers to think twice about setting a deadline on an employee’s accommodation request. For example, last week the EEOC announced that it had settled a religious accommodation lawsuit against a North Carolina hospital. According to the…

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What does it take to be individually liable for discrimination? A lot.

Image Credit: Photofunia.com Most discrimination lawsuits involve a single, individual plaintiff and, on the other side of the “v,” a company as the sole defendant.  But, sometimes, that plaintiff will name additional individual defendants too, such as a manager, supervisor, or even someone from Human Resources. When that happens, what…

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Dear Handbook: Is it cool if I spray air fresheners to mask my co-worker’s obnoxious chronic body odor?

Image Credit: Photofunia.com For Amber Bridges, a former City of Indianapolis employee, it allegedly got her fired. But, that didn’t stop her from filing an Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Spraying air fresheners around a co-worker with body odor seems a bit passive-aggressive.” “What…

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The Trump DOL just unearthed a bunch of employer-friendly Bush-era Opinion Letters.

Image Credit: Photofunia.com Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor did more for employers than just revamp its internship test. It re-issued a slew of opinion letters to help employers with sticky wage-and-hour issues. I’ve highlighted a few of the more notable ones below. [Fair warning: We get kinda wonky by…

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Lawsuit: Google discriminates against male, white, and conservative employees.

Image Credit: Photofunia.com Remember that male Google software engineer who got fired last year after posting a 3,300-word criticism of Google’s diversity policies on the company’s internal website. If you don’t check this out. Well, guess what? Dude just filed this class-action lawsuit against Google. Among other things, he and the other…

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I love the smell of Sour Patch Kids and the False Claims Act

You know, I don’t think we’ve ever discussed the False Claims Act here at The Employer Handbook. I don’t think we’ve discussed crowded clown cars either. And, while clowns may pique more interest, alas, this is an employment-law blog. So, I suppose we’ll enjoy our first taste of FCA together.…

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New Jersey just strengthened its ban the box rules

Back in August 2014, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed “The Opportunity to Compete Act”, also known as Ban the Box. This made it unlawful for companies with 15 or more employees to advertise that people with criminal records need to apply. Covered companies also cannot inquire about criminal history, from the…