When I think of Pennsylvania, it’s the Liberty Bell, cheesesteaks, and that putrid football team from Pittsburgh with the fans that wave yellow towels. I also think of employer-friendly employment laws. But one of those associations may soon be eroding. (Spoiler alert: not my opinion of the hapless Steelers). Last…
A recent Eighth Circuit decision helps show how an employer can discharge its obligations to engage in the Americans with Disabilities Act interactive process in good faith. Remote work during flare-ups The case involves a plaintiff with multiple sclerosis who worked in customer service at a hospital, the defendant. After…
Probably a bad idea. Especially if defending U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuits isn’t your jam. The EEOC newsroom is usually full of great blog fodder, and this press release about a recent $60,000 settlement of a unique retaliation lawsuit scratched my itch. According to the EEOC, it sued an employer…
Are you ready for the employment law changes that 2023 has in store for your company? If you’ve been thinking about updating your employee handbook and onboarding documents but don’t know where to begin (or end), we’ve got you, fam. Join me and my employment law partners, Christina Bost Seaton,…
I am so stoked for today’s edition of The Employer Handbook Zoom Office Happy Hour. I’ll tell you why. I’ve convinced my friends, Meyling “Mey” Ly Ortiz and Edward Fronczkiewicz, to share their in-house counsel perspectives on employee relations. In her role as Managing Counsel of Employment & Labor at…
Your tax dollars at work, folks. Well, technically, just those of us in New Jersey. Before I tell you about this recent decision, I’ll offer a brief history lesson. In July 2021, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 was introduced in the U.S.…
It depends. If an employee signs a severance agreement, you want them to provide a general release in exchange for whatever consideration the company is providing. If the employee is at least 40 years old, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act requires that the employee receive at least 21 days…
Tell me what you think of this. An employee is having behavioral issues at work, which leads to an official warning from the employer. The following month, a dispute between the employee and his supervisor leads the supervisor to email Human Resources that the employee’s behavior “is consistent with his…
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, employers may require an employee to comply with the employer’s usual and customary notice and procedural requirements for requesting leave, absent unusual circumstances. But unless you fancy defending FMLA interference claims, the call-in procedures shouldn’t require an advanced degree. Nobody’s fault but mine?…
During Thanksgiving week, I blogged about a Seventh Circuit decision and what makes a plaintiff alleging discrimination “similarly situated” to another employee outside of the plaintiff’s protected class whom the employer allegedly treated more favorably. The Seventh Circuit concluded that a white man who was fired for effectively stealing from…