GFDL, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Yesterday, we discussed why employers must adopt comprehensive, well-known anti-discrimination policies. That way, victims know what to do to get their complaints of harassment addressed. Today, we’re going to focus on the importance of a prompt employer response that is reasonably designed to…
I read another federal court opinion last night that reaffirms how important it is for employers to have effective antiharassment policies in their employee handbook. Before I tell you about the facts of the case, I’ll skip right to the punchlines: “The employer’s promulgation and dissemination of an antiharassment policy…
Oooooh…this one is going to be really good! There’s usually a certain formula when I invite other attorneys to join me to chat on The Employer Handbook Zoom Office Happy Hour. We pick an employment law topic, dissect it for an hour, and sprinkle in some audience Q&A. For example,…
TBH, I didn’t expect this edition of The Employer Handbook Zoom Happy Hour to overwhelm the Zoom servers with a massive audience. Often, when I write about labor (rather than employment) on this blog, the clicks are, err, less click-y. But, between Amazon and Starbucks, the overall rise in union…
The Fair Labor Standards Act makes it unlawful for employers to retaliate against employees who complain about violations of the FLSA. However, I don’t think the drafters of the law considered physical assault as a form of retaliation. But the U.S. Department of Labor is now suing two employers and…
It was bound to happen. Early last year, just before the change in presidential administrations, the U.S. Department of Labor passed a final rule, which amended the regulations interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act to include some language finally distinguishing independent contractors from employees. I wrote all about it here.…
This one (unlike that one) wasn’t even worth five cents. I suppose that’s what happens when you work for an airline and claim gender discrimination after getting fired for posting this publicly on your personal Facebook page: If I were Black in America, I think I’d get down on my…
How broad is the Americans with Disabilities Act‘s definition of “disability”? It’s so broad, concluded the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in this recent decision, that an employee can show that he is disabled based on his say-so. The plaintiff was the Chief Electrical Inspector of a municipality. In October 2014,…
Today, we will have a lesson on the differences between “direct” and “circumstantial” evidence of discrimination. Plaintiffs may prove discrimination through direct evidence, circumstantial evidence, or both. Circumstantial evidence allows the factfinder to infer discrimination. For example, a company fires a black employee for sleeping on the job but doesn’t…
It takes a lot to establish what the law considers a hostile work environment. A former warehouse manager learned this lesson the hard way when a federal judge dismissed her complaint with prejudice before she even got the chance to take any discovery. Here are the facts of the case…