I teased it in Friday’s post. Last week, a Michigan federal court held (here) that a workplace dress code that requires one gender to conform to a sex stereotype (e.g., men must wear suits, and women must wear dresses) is “direct evidence” of sex discrimination. But, the employer in the Michigan case refused…
Just for today, head on over to LinkedIn, and check out my post about how strict application of your dress code could result in a nasty sex discrimination claim. (And a little teaser for Monday — I’ll explain why the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision may trump Title VII and…
Get back to where you once belonged. Picture this… You decide to eliminate an employee’s position, but give her a few weeks’ notice. Prior to her last day of work, you present this employee with a severance agreement, which offered her six weeks of pay in exchange for “a complete waiver…
It is fairly common for Major League Baseball pitchers to have music played when they enter a ballgame. For example, the great Mariano Rivera famously entered games in the ninth inning to Metallica’s Enter Sandman. Aroldis Chapman (pictured above), can hurl a baseball 103 miles per hour with his left hand. He…
Wait, it’ll come to me…. Please be patient. It’ll come to me… It’s right there on the tip of my tongue. Maybe some music would help… No, I got nothin’. Bloomberg Law’s Ben Penn reports here (subscription required) that the U.S. Department of Labor has agreed to pay $7 million to…
We know from Friday’s post that 89% of you are federal wage and hour minimum-wage all-stars. To celebrate, and because I love each and every one of you, the least I could do is hook you up with the U.S. Department of Labor’s new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Minimum…
Since July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees has been $7.25 per hour. Many states and cities have raised that floor, with some cities, like Seattle, headed to $15/hr. But, federally, despite pressure from many to raise it, we’ve been stuck at a $7.25 minimum wage for over 7…
A reader emailed me yesterday. “Hey Eric, Clients are wondering about value of settlement NDAs after ex-Fox News HWE victims go public despite contracts. Your reaction?” Wait! You mean employees actually violate confidentiality provisions? I know, right? By way of brief background, in late July, New York ran a story by Gabriel…
Just when you thought it was tough enough to keep your own workforce in line. Mack the Knife (except without the murder). The plaintiff in this case worked as a van driver — no, not that van driver — for a senior center for a little over six years. To say…
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee with a disability, when doing so will permit that employee to perform the essential functions of the job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include reassigning non-essential job functions to other employees, a transfer to another open…