My turn-ons include fantasy football and this ugly holiday sweater, which I cannot wait to debut this season. I also dig smart legal writing. Although, one could never discern that by perusing my dumpster fire of a law blog. To start to fix that, today, I’m going to quote liberally from a…
You’ve heard the expression “loose lips sink ships.” Well, the opposite holds true when an employee complains to a supervisor about workplace discrimination. You’ll see what I mean when we go back to yesterday’s post. That’s the one about the “unofficial” office happy hour that officially landed the employer in…
Ten of your employees, including two supervisors, plan and attend an “unofficial” happy hour after work at a local bar. It’s unofficial because the company does not sponsor it, none of the employees are paid for their time, and no business is discussed. Now, let’s assume that this hour is…
How?!?!?!?!? In McKinney v. G4S Government Solutions, Inc. (opinion here), an African-American employee claimed that his employer fostered a racially hostile work environment. Among other things, the plaintiff alleged that: a co-worker used the n-word in his presence; a fire chief told the plaintiff that the company had hired a “colored…
No, it won’t violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. One of your employees is displaying erratic behavior at work. While you’re no medical expert, you feel as if the employee may become a threat to herself or others, if she isn’t already. So you place the employee on leave and require…
Even Kramerica Industries knows better than that. This company did WHAT?!? One California employer, not so much apparently. That is, in September 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed this complaint in CA federal court against a local orchid grower. And that complaint contains some allegations that’ll make your head spin.…
Respect.
***pops open can of Haterade*** A local Philadelphia-area school district employed a teacher/union advocate for about 10 years until it ended his employment on the grounds that he was creating a hostile work environment for his fellow teachers and making lewd and suggestive statements to students. Given that this is…
noogie || noun noog·ie \ ˈnu̇-gē \ According to Merriam Webster, a “noogie” is the act of rubbing one’s knuckles on a person’s head so as to produce a mildly painful sensation. But, could a noogie be considered an act of retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? (Hey,…
Yep, Harry Potter. On Friday, the Third Circuit of Appeals issued a precedential Fair Labor Standards Act opinion. The issue was whether the FLSA requires employers to compensate employees for breaks of 20 minutes or less after they log off their computers and are free from any work duties. I…