Last May, I wrote about this religious discrimination case involving an employer’s duty to accommodate a plaintiff who needed Sundays off to observe his religion. The court decided the case in favor of the employer, which led to this appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in August, asking that it revisit its…
I told you that the first Zoom Office Happy Hour of 2023 at The Employer Handbook would be a big one! Earlier in the week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced here that it had released its draft of its Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP). Once finalized, the SEP will…
In December, I warned you that New Jersey’s Mini-WARN Act might get that employee-friendly overhaul sooner than you think. That prediction has borne fruit. (Especially for NJ employee-rights class action lawyers.) On Tuesday, NJ Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation to amend the effective date of the changes to NJ’s mini-WARN…
Yesterday, I wrote about a man who claimed that his employer retaliated against him by forcing him to resign after he objected to attending workplace training on anti-racism and gender identity. It was a good story. We employment lawyers have plenty of them. But, perhaps, it wasn’t great. But what…
The federal court decision I read last night reaffirms one of the many reasons I enjoy practicing employment law: I’ll never run out of good stories to tell. This one involves a plaintiff who worked as a security counselor for a state hospital in the Midwest. He alleged in his…
On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule prohibiting employers from imposing noncompetes on their workers. I wrote about it on Friday and spent the weekend reading all 216 pages of the official “Non-Compete Clause Rule Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.” So, let’s discuss it on Zoom today. Click here…
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule prohibiting employers from imposing noncompetes on their workers. When I shared the news on LinkedIn, someone commented, “Yeah, bold move FTC…” And I was like, “Bold move is wearing seersucker before Memorial Day. This is MINDBLOWINGLY HUGE!” Folks, it’s only January…
Blink twice if you know (or at least suspect) a poor-performing employee who complained about discrimination or sought leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to insulate herself from discipline at work. I’m not saying that’s what the plaintiff did in this recent Eighth Circuit decision. But then again,…
Litigators often counsel witnesses to answer, “I don’t recall,” rather than guess or speculate the response to a question at a deposition. But, sometimes, that approach can backfire. The female plaintiff in this recent Third Circuit opinion I read last night worked as a manager in the defendant’s finance department.…
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals because of a disability. A qualified individual can perform the job’s essential functions with or without a reasonable accommodation. Often, an individual with a disability will approach a supervisor or HR, identify their limitations, and ask for help.…