:
Updated:
DEI Shake-Up: What President Trump’s Executive Order Means for Your Business
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Updated:
New EEOC Chair, New Focus: What Businesses Should Know
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Updated:
Splish Splash, That’s Not Your Cash! New DOL Guidance Keeps Managers out of the Tip Pool.
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Updated:
FLSA Exemptions For Employers: Now 40% Less Daunting, 100% Still Your Problem
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Updated:
Paid Leave Jigsaw: New DOL Guidance for Employers to Fit FMLA and State Rules Together.
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Updated:
Cheeseheads, Consequences, and Crossing the Line: HR Lessons from the Stands
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Updated:
When the Cat’s Paw Scratches: How a University Got Schooled on Employment Law
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Updated:
Avoid this employer’s mistake. Here’s why your business should focus more on accommodations than the underlying disability.
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Updated:
Reorg Roulette: When Office Shuffles Lead to Legal Kerfuffles
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Updated:
Retaliation Station: When Harassment and Termination Claims Take Different Tracks
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Updated:
Hiring Hiccups in Discrimination Cases: When Gut Feelings Aren’t Just Gas
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Updated:
When Accommodation Requests Go AWOL: A Cautionary Tale For Employers
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Updated:
This is how I’d explain a hostile work environment to a ten-year-old.
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Updated:
Our employee on a modified work schedule misses too much work. What do we do?
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Updated:
When Discrimination Claims Go Under the Knife: A Surgeon’s Legal Misadventure
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Updated:
Must companies pay employees for time they spend lollygagging on the job?
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When the Employment Lawyer Becomes the Plaintiff: Lessons from an ADEA Case
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Updated:
Underwear Where?!? A Cautionary Tale of Retaliation, Timing, and Documentation
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Updated:
EEOC to employer: You didn’t accommodate painful menstrual cramps. See you in court!
:
Updated:
A Legal Tale Before Christmas: How a $2,575,000 jury award for retaliation got reduced to one measly buck.
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Feds to Supreme Court: Level the playing field for plaintiffs claiming reverse discrimination
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Updated:
Wearables at Work: An EEOC “Fit” for HR Compliance and Productivity
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Updated:
What HR should know about the EEOC’s New Guidance on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) for Health Care Providers
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Updated:
Did this employer fall for the FMLA (in loco) parent(is) trap?
:
Updated:
Let’s revisit Friday’s post about what state’s laws apply to a remote NJ worker’s employment claims
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Updated:
Can out-of-state remote workers handpick the most favorable state employment laws for a lawsuit?
:
Updated:
Unions see red (and businesses may see red soon too) as the Senate rejects Biden’s NLRB chair renomination
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Updated:
Blunt Reality: NJ cannabis users cannot sue over rescinded job offers
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Updated:
How can an individual without an actual disability still have an ADA claim?
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Updated:
Can an employee sue for discrimination because of a denied PTO request? (Spoiler alert: yes.)
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Updated:
Join me and my friends on Wednesday, December 11 for HR Festivus. (And it’s free)
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Updated:
Think the FTC is done taking on restrictive covenants? Think again!
:
Updated:
Three lessons for employers from Lizzo’s employment litigation
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Updated:
Can companies exit bias lawsuits by arguing that the same person hired and fired the plaintiff?
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Updated:
The ADA does not require do-overs or relaxing important job requirements to accommodate individuals with disabilities
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Updated:
In a break from tradit—- ok, ok, we won’t break tradition. Let’s rank Thanksgiving foods again.
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Updated:
Can employers pay inflated expenses to employees and avoid counting them towards overtime?
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Updated:
What should employers know about Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s pick to run the DOL?
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Updated:
Read this before firing an employee for having an Only Fans account
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Updated:
FMLA covers serious health conditions. But what about clinical trials for serious health conditions?
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Updated:
New Jersey joins the club of states with pay transparency laws.
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Updated:
Join us today at Noon ET on Zoom to learn how November’s election results may impact employment laws in 2025
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Updated:
Déjà vu all over again: a Texas federal judge erased the new OT rules nationwide
:
Updated:
Is a union trying to organize your workplace? Here are two common things companies can no longer do to stop it.
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Updated:
A coworker’s racist, sexist, and homophobic comments weren’t enough to create a hostile work environment. Here’s why.
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Updated:
A “Situations and Solutions Finder” to make ADA job accommodations easier to provide? Yes, please.
:
Updated:
Looking for Dallas-area BBQ recommendations for this weekend.
:
Updated:
Join us on November 19 at Noon ET on Zoom for a look at how November’s election results may impact employment laws in 2025
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Updated:
When employees publicize their own confidential health information it’s no longer confidential.
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Updated:
Court to white plaintiff: diversity does not equal discrimination
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Don’t let these three manager mistakes undermine your company’s business judgment on ADA essential job functions.
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Updated:
Is it ok if our managers discourage employee use of FMLA leave, without actually denying it?
:
Updated:
This simple job description tweak could save your company from disability bias claims
:
Updated:
What should employers do if they doubt the sincerity of an employee’s religious beliefs? NOT THIS!
:
Updated:
Paid sick leave for employees to care for pets? One major city may soon require it.
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Updated:
Wait until you see how EASY it is to plead a claim of discrimination in federal court
:
Updated:
The DOL released a best practices guide for employers on “Artificial Intelligence and Worker Well-being”
:
Updated:
How can your business avoid retaliation claims? Just do what this company did.
:
Updated:
The FTC is all-in on its proposed noncompete ban, appealing the nationwide injunction against it.
:
Updated:
Did this employee get caught trying to pull a fast one? Or did the company interfere with his FMLA rights?
:
Updated:
Force your employees to sign THIS, and the EEOC may nail you for ADA interference
:
Updated:
100,000 reasons to accommodate an employee after she experiences a stillbirth (and not fire her four days later)
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Updated:
Rest in Peace: Lilly Ledbetter, an equal-pay activist and icon
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Updated:
An employee facing termination of employment requested FMLA leave. It didn’t save him from getting fired. Here’s why…
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Updated:
Join us today on Zoom at Noon ET to learn the playbook of an employee-rights attorney (who used to represent employers).
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Updated:
Your HR Guide to Hurricane Milton
:
Updated:
I’m pretty sure I found Exhibit “A” in a new EEOC pregnancy bias lawsuit. It will blow your mind 🤯
:
Updated:
Should it be harder for straight workers to prove bias than gay workers? How about a heightened standard for white workers to prove discrimination? The Supreme Court will decide.
:
Updated:
Join us on Zoom on Friday, October 11 for “To the Dark Side (or perhaps seeing the light).”
:
Updated:
Will you help a friend impacted by Hurricane Helene?
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Updated:
With so many religious holidays coming up, make sure your managers don’t do THIS.
:
Updated:
The EEOC just sued some employers for preventing transgender employees from using restrooms consistent with their gender identity
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Updated:
If your pregnant employee experiences a stillbirth or miscarriage, whatever you do, don’t do this
:
Updated:
THIS must be part of your 2025 anti-harassment training if it’s not already,
:
Updated:
Do we have to hire the best candidate for the job … if they have a visible Swastika tattoo?
:
Updated:
The FTC is appealing one of its non-compete losses. Should employers be nervous?
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Updated:
A 100%-healed policy may 100% violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act
:
Updated:
Why would an employee sue his employer for offering him 100% telework as a disability accommodation?
:
Updated:
What happens when a company terminates someone for FMLA fraud when they weren’t actually misusing it?
:
Updated:
Lying lawyer loses lawsuit. Let’s look.
:
Updated:
Rip this FMLA policy out of your employee handbook. And burn it with fire.
:
Updated:
Court to feds: You can keep using salary to measure which workers should receive overtime
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Updated:
FTC: It may be more than a year before a court greenlights our non-compete rule — if at all
:
Updated:
EEOC sues company for supposedly imposing a one pregnant-employee limit for its workforce
:
Updated:
This employer went to the hospital and fired its employee while in psychiatric treatment. Then it defeated his FMLA claim.
:
Updated:
An employer’s offer of remote work from the office may be an ADA reasonable accommodation alternative to work from home
:
Updated:
Did you know that even temporary impairments like a back injury can qualify as disabilities?
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Updated:
It turns out that an employee planning her “exit strategy” with her attorney wasn’t constructively discharged from her job.
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Updated:
Share this post with someone who (mis)uses the term “salary exempt.”
:
Updated:
A self-proclaimed “dirty old man” did not create hostile work environment. Not even in California.
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Updated:
Can we refuse to hire someone who previously filed an EEOC charge against us?
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Updated:
Can an employer force an employee to arbitrate ***checks notes*** a charge of discrimination?
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Updated:
Here’s something you may not know about hostile work environment claims
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Why, oh WHY, did a court determine that ASTHMA IS NOT A DISABILITY?!?
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Updated:
A federal appellate court struck the DOL’s “arbitrary and capricious” tip credit rule for tipped employees
:
Updated:
875,000 reasons why the customer isn’t always right
:
Updated:
Three reasons why a Texas federal court may block the FTC’s noncompete rule nationwide
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Updated:
HR told me I was fired for not losing my religion
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Updated:
“This case arises from a workplace romance.” It began as “an affair” when “they were not yet colleagues, only lovers.”
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Updated:
Mark your calendars for two FREE employment law webinars this month.
:
Updated:
An employer that supposedly instructed employees to pray away COVID-19 now must face religious discrimination claims.
:
Updated:
This, if true, is what we call direct evidence of race discrimination
:
Updated:
Two white men suing for discrimination got called out for a “serious misunderstanding of the law or its purposeful misapplication.”
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Updated:
Proving a disability in court isn’t that hard. (Even judges mistake how easy it is.)
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Updated:
Gadzooks! This is one of the largest wage and hour judgments ever!
:
Updated:
Social media posts from outside the office can foster a hostile work environment at work
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Updated:
Oh, you think you know retaliation, do you? Wait until you see this.
:
Updated:
Join us on 8/13/24 at Noon ET for “Everything Employers Need to Know Now About the FTC’s Non-Compete Rule”
:
Updated:
Beware of the bones in your boneless chicken wings. Wait, what?!?
:
Updated:
Firing fast in certain situations can help defeat retaliation claims. Yes, firing FAST!
:
Updated:
🚨A Pennsylvania federal judge DENIED an employer’s request to block the FTC’s non-compete rule.🚨
:
Updated:
Heads up, Pennsylvania healthcare providers! The Commonwealth passed a new noncompete law.
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Updated:
Must an employer grant a RETROACTIVE workplace accommodation if a disabled employee requests one??
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Updated:
How to investigate claims of harassment — when the accused is part of HR
:
Updated:
50,000 reasons to reconsider scolding an HR Manager for investigating sexual harassment claims (i.e., doing their job).
:
Updated:
There’s a right way and a wrong way to investigate FMLA fraud, as one employer found out.
:
Updated:
Previously overlooked, a black man changed the name on his resume to sound less ethnic. Then, he got an interview. Now, he’s suing.
:
Updated:
How to address employees that refuse unconscious bias training
:
Updated:
A second bite at the apple? Plaintiffs ask to reconsider a nationwide injunction on the FTC noncompete rule
:
Updated:
Here are a few pages to add to your ADA accommodation playbook from a recent federal appellate court decision
:
Updated:
Heads up, employers. It’s a lot easier for employees to claim discrimination — even without getting fired.
:
Updated:
A good-faith belief that an employee violated work rules may not be enough to defeat a discrimination claim
:
Updated:
Yesterday, a court did block the FTC’s noncompete rule. But, here’s the thing…
:
Updated:
A Texas federal judge should decide the fate of the FTC noncompete rule today. So, let’s make this interesting….
:
Updated:
No Chevron? No new overtime rules allowed, rules Texas judge.
:
Updated:
“Chevron” for non-lawyers
:
Updated:
Employers: It’s time again to have an employment lawyer review your severance agreements.
:
Updated:
The difference between what an employees feels is a hostile work environment and a genuinely unlawful one.
:
Updated:
Here’s what not to do when an employee discloses her disability on her first day of work.
:
Updated:
Supreme Court to decide if former employees can invoke the ADA for post-employment benefits
:
Updated:
Your non-competes and non-solicits may violate ANOTHER federal law: the National Labor Relations Act
:
Updated:
Poor Yelp reviews — and not retaliation — are why this rude restaurant hostess got fired
:
Updated:
The Supreme Court will review how employers can establish overtime exemptions
:
Updated:
Meanwhile, another court has blocked “elective abortion” accommodations under the PWFA regulations
:
Updated:
Court denies 17 states’ challenge to abortion leave under the EEOC’s pregnancy regulations
:
Updated:
Trouble brewin’ for the feds’ efforts to block unfair labor practices after yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling
:
Updated:
A new “Epic” measure in Congress aims to end arbitration of employment claims
:
Updated:
A company reportedly shut down its business rather than go union. Wait, can it do that?!?
:
Updated:
Even some judges mistake how easy it is for an employee to claim age discrimination
:
Updated:
How did this employer terminate an employee while on FMLA without violating the law?
:
Updated:
Don’t use THIS FONT in your legal briefs (or anywhere else probably).
:
Updated:
Is it worse to smoke a cigarette in a tanker truck carrying highly flammable substances or drive it recklessly?
:
Updated:
There’s no bright-line rule or magic words needed for employees to request workplace accommodations.
:
Updated:
An employer that refuses to accommodate an employee’s disability can still win an ADA lawsuit. Here’s how.
:
Updated:
Here’s why the FTC thinks its non-compete rule will survive a legal challenge
:
Updated:
Got an age discrimination claim? It’s not that hard to plead one in court.
:
Updated:
The world’s largest HR organization does NOT support the FTC’s non-compete rule
:
Updated:
Today’s letter of the day is “P,” as in “Pretext”
:
Updated:
Did this company retaliate or simply exercise its First Amendment right (to BLAST its employee on Facebook)?
:
Updated:
Various employer associations have sued to block the DOL’s new overtime rule
:
Updated:
If your company handles military leave for employees this way, you may be doing it all WRONG
:
Updated:
Supervisors playing doctor — unless they’re doctors — is a bad idea
:
Updated:
Can a single incident that the plaintiff doesn’t witness create a hostile work environment?
:
Updated:
Let’s update you on some recent NJ employment law developments
:
Updated:
Here’s why the Chamber of Commerce believes the FTC’s non-compete rule is unlawful
:
Updated:
Retaliation can come in all shapes and sizes
:
Updated:
Court: Denying coverage for gender-affirming care to transgender employees is sex discrimination
:
Updated:
Hey, HR! Avoid the same mistake that this HR Department allegedly made when responding to an employee’s complaint.
:
Updated:
Congress takes a step closer to ending forced arbitration of age bias claims
:
Updated:
A new bill in Congress would uncap damages in federal discrimination lawsuits
:
Updated:
This guy didn’t need an accommodation to perform his job. He wanted one to avoid discipline.
:
Updated:
Man tests positive for marijuana, blames it on his lip balm, and doubles down with an ADA lawsuit.
:
Updated:
With the DEA reportedly ready to ease restrictions on marijuana, the ADA landscape changes for employers
:
Updated:
Must an employer accommodate an employee who won’t use transgender names and pronouns?
:
Updated:
DOL to Employers: Using artificial intelligence does not excuse compliance with the FLSA and FMLA
:
Updated:
The EEOC has finalized its new workplace harassment guidance
:
Updated:
See you on Zoom today at Noon ET to address the FTC’s noncompete ban and the DOL’s OT changes
:
Updated:
17 states sue to block the EEOC from greenlighting abortion leave under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
:
Updated:
Let’s have another Zoom on Monday, 4/29/24, at Noon ET to address the FTC’s noncompete ban and the DOL’s OT changes
:
Updated:
It’s official. The feds plan to ban most employee noncompetes. But is this fire or smoke?
:
Updated:
How did a white man convince a jury to award him over $10M for race and gender discrimination?
:
Updated:
Can harassment of OTHERS help prove that a plaintiff endured a hostile work environment?
:
Updated:
Join us today at Noon ET for The Employer Handbook Zoom Happy Hour to discuss the EEOC’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Final Rule
:
Updated:
Yesterday, the Supreme Court cleared up when a job transfer may be discriminatory. But not really. Actually, not at all.
:
Updated:
Next week, the feds will vote on whether to ban most noncompetes
:
Updated:
The EEOC has issued its final rules on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. So, let’s Zoom on Friday, April 19, 2024 at Noon ET.
:
Updated:
Man wins $1.5M discrimination verdict. Then the appellate court completely erased it. Here’s why…
:
Updated:
Have you ever heard of an “intersectional” discrimination claim?
:
Updated:
When is an employer AUTOMATICALLY liable for a supervisor’s sexual harassment of a subordinate?
:
Updated:
Hair discrimination isn’t unlawful. But, firing a black employee because of her natural hair texture is.
:
Updated:
Can employers legally favor transgender employees over cisgender employees?
:
Updated:
Must employers excuse workers with strong religious beliefs from respect-in-the-workplace training covering LGBT topics
:
Updated:
Court to Labor Board: Your “misguided attempt to find a labor-law violation” is “nonsense”
:
Updated:
Some complaints of sexual harassment aren’t protected at all
:
Updated:
Court to employers: Don’t wait too long to arbitrate employments claims
:
Updated:
Folks, misgendering an employee can be severe and pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment.
:
Updated:
“This case illustrates why the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) exists.”
:
Updated:
Generally, an employer’s duty to accommodate takes more than an employee merely disclosing a disability
:
Updated:
Let’s get back to basics: FMLA notice requirements
:
Updated:
“March Madness” is ***checks notes*** not a serious health condition.
:
Updated:
A new bill in congress would guarantee all workers get two weeks of paid time off
:
Updated:
An employer settled claims it refused to accommodate a pregnant worker who then miscarried
:
Updated:
In rejecting an employee’s claim that DEI training fostered a hostile work environment, a federal appellate offered a stern warning to employers
:
Updated:
Here’s how bad documentation can cost a company big bucks when a former employee sues
:
Updated:
The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, introduced this week in Congress, is exactly what you think it is
:
Updated:
Employers must adjust employee performance standards to avoid penalizing employees on FMLA leave
:
Updated:
Is complaining about a hostile work environment enough to support a retaliation claim? Maybe. Maybe not.
:
Updated:
When an employee sues, what law applies when they’ve worked in two states?
:
Updated:
A federal judge has nixed the NLRB’s proposed new joint-employer rule
:
Updated:
Here’s what happens when a judge catches a plaintiff fabricating evidence of sexual harassment
:
Updated:
Is it racist to falsely accuse someone of being a racist?
:
Updated:
Can states legally ban “woke” training in the workplace?
:
Updated:
An employer that fired an employee for a positive marijuana test may have discriminated against him too.
:
Updated:
The Employer Handbook Friday Zoom Happy Hour Returns on Friday, March 8 at Noon ET
:
Updated:
Instead of hiring a lawyer, a business owner ordered to pay wages used AI to prepare his appeal. It was a giant clusterf**k!
:
Updated:
Should Mrs. Doubtfire have been paid overtime?
:
Updated:
Are we seeing a trend? More judges aren’t falling for spurious COVID-19 religious accommodation claims.
:
Updated:
How do we help an employee who blurts obscenities and racial slurs to our customers uncontrollably?
:
Updated:
Can employers ban workers from wearing Black Lives Matter insignia to protest discrimination at work?
:
Updated:
An employee who wanted religious exception for the COVID-19 vaccine got called on it. Guess what happened next?
:
Updated:
145,000 reasons not to tell an employee they have “old-timers disease.”
:
Updated:
There’s one state where bringing a sexual harassment claim is much easier than the rest
:
Updated:
It’s 2024 and federal law still does not protect medical marijuana users from getting fired for testing positive.
:
Updated:
This Employee Relations Department redeemed itself (sort of).
:
Updated:
In January, a 78-year-old receptionist was named “Employee of the Year.” In February, she was fired.
:
Updated:
Here are four ways to BOTCH a sexual harassment investigation
:
Updated:
How do we help our employee who tells us she has early-onset Alzheimer’s disease?
:
Updated:
Not all retaliation laws are alike. There’s one that doesn’t even require any intent to retaliate.
:
Updated:
A federal jury awarded $1,675,000 to a deaf applicant passed over for two warehouse positions
:
Updated:
Here are 105,000 reasons not to force an older worker to retire
:
Updated:
A court correctly dismissed claims of age discrimination, IMO. But, this employment lawyer still has a bone to pick.
:
Updated:
Do as I say, not as I do? (You won’t believe how much the feds paid to settle allegations of “egregious and continual sexual harassment.”)
:
Updated:
Will training white employees on “white fragility” and other concepts linked to racism create a hostile work environment? Probably not.
:
Updated:
Training about racism can foster a hostile work environment. Wait, WHAT?!?
:
Updated:
An EEOC Commissioner takes issue with a billionaire’s position on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
:
Updated:
EEOC launches new outreach effort to help underserved communities and vulnerable workers
:
Updated:
Next time, just give her the damn stool.
:
Updated:
Help Wanted: Bartender. Must be biologically male
:
Updated:
Reasonable accommodations for disabled employees need to be reasonable, not perfect
:
Updated:
Here are forty thousand reasons why “equal pay for equal work” applies to male victims too
:
Updated:
An employer’s response to a complaint of harassment doesn’t need to be perfect. Just ok may do.
:
Updated:
Next time, maybe she’ll just get that tattoo.
:
Updated:
Did this guy’s performance really nose-dive? Or did his age motivate his abrupt termination?
:
Updated:
Employee claims bias when employer failed to hire an inferior candidate.
:
Updated:
Folks, we have our first lawsuit to try to KO the DOL’s new independent contractor rule
:
Updated:
Let’s revisit how to handle FMLA and FLSA for a snow day office closure.
:
Updated:
Join me on Wednesday, January 17, at 1 PM for a webinar on the new DOL Independent Contractor Rules
:
Updated:
Today’s free “wage and hour 101” post is the silver lining to an employer’s $1.6M screw-up
:
Updated:
A company supposedly awarded a black employee a trophy for “Least Likely to Be Seen in the Dark.” WTH?!?
:
Updated:
Here are five things for employers to know about the DOL’s new independent contractor rule
:
Updated:
The EEOC’s new General Counsel is targeting Antisemitism, Islamophobia. So should you.
:
Updated:
A company must rehire a moonlighting comic it fired for his ‘inflammatory’ standup routine.
:
Updated:
Eric, you forgot to tell us if ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas movie.
:
Updated:
Even with DIRECT EVIDENCE of discrimination, the employee’s race bias lawsuit was DOA
:
Updated:
Here’s your annual reminder not to misjudge and stereotype when employees with disabilities may be a “direct threat” to others.
:
Updated:
New employment laws may not just expose employers to liability; they may double it!
:
Updated:
What’s next? I’m a founding partner of one of the largest law firm launches in American legal history.
:
Updated:
A love letter to FisherBroyles
:
Updated:
These were the most read posts of 2023. Plus, a MAJOR announcement coming on Friday…
:
Updated:
Employers, here are 110,759 reasons why you’re not the religion police.
:
Updated:
Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie?
:
Updated:
What do you think? Is this a hostile work environment? (Spoiler alert: no.)
:
Updated:
No, my guy, your employer did not unlawfully stereotype your masculinity by firing you for sexual harassment.
:
Updated:
“Vague and conclusory” allegations are not enough to pursue claims of discrimination in court.
:
Updated:
85,286 reasons not to treat an employee differently because their family member is disabled
:
Updated:
It may be okay to terminate someone after they complain about discrimination if…
:
Updated:
What’s the worst that could happen to a former employee who hacks your network and lies to the feds about it?
:
Updated:
Did you know that companies can sue for race discrimination too? (And potentially win.)
:
Updated:
Employers do not need to recreate accommodations that do not exist to help employees with disabilities
:
Updated:
A bipartisan group in Congress wants to make it easier for employees to prove age discrimination
:
Updated:
An employee couldn’t show that ending her temporary position was discriminatory. I wonder why…
:
Updated:
As one person found out on Monday, it’s not so easy to prove sexual orientation bias when you’re straight.
:
Updated:
Noncompetition Agreements and Restrictive Covenants in New York
:
Updated:
This is what a settlement with the EEOC looks like after they sue for discrimination
:
Updated:
How can you tell if in-office work is truly an essential function of an employee’s job?
:
Updated:
How can you tell if full-time work is truly an essential function of an employee’s job?
:
Updated:
One court finally answers the question: when does extended medical leave become unreasonable?
:
Updated:
Could a shoddy investigation into a complaint of discrimination lead to a viable lawsuit by . . . the accused?
:
Updated:
Here’s another reason to have a lawyer review your company’s separation and settlement agreements
:
Updated:
….and STILL the reigning, defending champion of Thanksgiving foods is STUFFING!!!
:
Updated:
Ok, NOW let’s rank the top Thanksgiving foods for 2023!
:
Updated:
An employer cannot rely on a contract to discriminate
:
Updated:
POLL RESULTS (sort of): Only about half of employers still have COVID-19 policies
:
Updated:
POLL: Does your business have a COVID-19 policy?
:
Updated:
They don’t call it FMLA interference for nothing
:
Updated:
281,870 reasons not to attempt a kickback scheme to avoid paying overtime
:
Updated:
A Tennessee man who claims he was fired from his job over tweets made in California can sue that person in Tennessee
:
Updated:
Today, at Noon ET, join us for “Antisemitism and the Workplace” on Zoom. It’s free to attend.
:
Updated:
The “E” in injunction stands for “evidence.” (Who’s gonna tell him there’s no…)
:
Updated:
This recent federal court decision makes me further question the utility of drug testing for most positions.
:
Updated:
A woman was reprimanded after complaining about sexual harassment. That’s usually not retaliation. Here’s why.
:
Updated:
Join us on 11/10/23 at Noon ET for The Employer Handbook Zoom Happy Hour: Antisemitism and the Workplace
:
Updated:
An employer got sued for age bias. It admitted wanting to advance younger employees. It prevailed. HOW?!?
:
Updated:
“Oh, they paid you less than market value? Yes, we love your novel equal pay legal theory. Tell us more!”
:
Updated:
REMINDER: Employers can start filing their 2022 EEO-1 Reports
:
Updated:
Can an employer exclude older job applicants for marketing purposes?
:
Updated:
What are there legal risks of making a worker participate in an Employee Assistance Program?
:
Updated:
There’s a new joint-employer rule. Wait, another one?!? Yes, this one involves employers and labor unions.
:
Updated:
Complaints of discrimination can come in all shapes and sizes
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Why was talk of confederate flags and cursing the President not “extreme” enough to be a hostile work environment?
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In some places, federal antidiscrimination laws are much broader than you may realize
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I’ll give you a million reasons not to ask employees and applicants about family medical history
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On Instagram, an ER doctor said Israelis got “a taste of their own medicine.” CORRECTION: Former ER doctor.
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It’s not often an employee has direct evidence of discrimination. But I found one that did.
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What rights do former employees have under the ADA? Well, it depends.
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Did you know that a bird — a macaw, specifically — can create a hostile work environment?
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Should this employer have been able to predict future sexual harassment?
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The person who promoted me later demoted me. That’s sexist, the plaintiff claimed.
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Law student BLAMES ISRAEL for Hamas terrorism. Law firm promptly RESCINDS student’s JOB OFFER.
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Will your business be ready for how recent events in Israel will undoubtedly impact your workplace?
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Talent acquisition specialist fired after video surfaces of her xenophobic rant on a train
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How does a convicted drug-dealing felon get a trial on his failure-to-hire discrimination claim?
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Thinking about a mutual non-disparagement provision in a separation agreement? Read this!
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Might you need to modify work schedules for disabled employees to make their commute safer?
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EEOC sues “Bark If You’re Dirty” pet store for sexual harassment and sex discrimination. Because of course.
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At long last, the EEOC has proposed new workplace harassment guidance.
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After the Supreme Court raised the bar for religious accommodations, an appellate court smacked a defendant with it
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Could denying vacation requests be grounds for a . . . discrimination claim?!?
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Here are five signs that your employee’s retaliation lawsuit ain’t all it’s cracked up to be
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An accused sexual harasser thought he had smoking-gun evidence of race discrimination. As it turns out, however…
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EEOC: Hey, employer! You refused to accommodate an injured desk clerk with a stool. A simple stool.
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The EEOC has released its updated enforcement playbook. And I have a copy.
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Can we fire an employee who complains about discrimination and is dead wrong?
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Some drug rehabilitation center patients sued for, get this, unpaid overtime. And they may win!
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The EEOC and DOL are teaming up to enforce federal employment law
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Class-action lawyers could be salivating at this new “wage theft” bill in Congress.
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WARNING: This could be one of my nerdiest FMLA posts yet.
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Five plant managers learned the hard way that betting on which workers will get COVID-19 doesn’t pay
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No, getting fired after telling a supervisor you are pregnant is not retaliation. Or is it?
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The employee who claimed she was drugged, raped, and blackmailed by a supervisor LOST her discrimination lawsuit. HOW?!?
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Let’s revisit whether morbid obesity is a disability (and why, sometimes, it may not matter).
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Court re-orders 8 hours of religious-liberty training for an employer’s lawyers; says they need it “direly.”
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I know when you can start filing EEO-1 Component 1 Data. Here’s a hint: 🎃🍬🍫
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Another employer learns the hard way that it’s better to hire slow and fire fast
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This is not a drill. A new, federal overtime proposal will cost employers $1.2 billion.
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What is (and is not) considered retaliation?
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The feds are trying to make unionizing your workplace easier than draining a two-foot putt.
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I may have located the blueprint showing when regular, in-person attendance is an ADA essential job function
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An employer asked an employee for a doctor’s note with every intermittent FMLA absence. Here’s how it turned out…
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There’s a deadline to file discrimination charges with the EEOC. An employee learned that courts rarely excuse late filings.
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Does Title VII only cover ultimate employment decisions? Another federal appellate court doesn’t think so.
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If your company rounds employee start and stop times, you may want to read this. (Also, if you like Ratt.)
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Why might the Phillie Phanatic get paid for the time it takes to get into costume at the ballpark?
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Can a company require OT — even if a disability prevents an employee from working long hours?
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EEOC claims four HR employees facilitated two acts of disability bias against the same person
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Here’s why so many employers make a mess of the overtime rules.
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The ADA may require accommodations for alcoholics. But it can get tricky when police are involved.
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OMG! A judge ordered a company’s lawyers to complete eight hours of religious-liberty training.
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Take me out to the ballgame.
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Here’s something you might not have known about the new federal pregnancy accommodation law.
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Elon Musk says X will fund legal bills for employees “unfairly treated” for posting or liking on the platform
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50,000 reasons not to mandate prayer at work
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New NLRB standards will require even more employee handbook updates. (My kids’ college funds thank you.)
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Sometimes, the only reasonable accommodation is one where the employee doesn’t work.
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Is do-it-yourself dialysis at work an ADA reasonable accommodation? The EEOC thinks so.
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A new bill will greenlight federal employment for marijuana users
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Yes, you must comply with the Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights in New Jersey
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Thank you, EEOC, for this new ADA visual disabilities in the workplace guidance document
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What state’s employment laws apply when a non-resident remote worker sues your business?
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Two United States Senators are about to introduce something called the “No Robot Bosses Act”
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How do judges resolve “he-said/she-said” in discrimination cases?
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Can labor unions be sued for sexual harassment? (Spoiler alert: Yes, and they are costly!)
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2.4 million reasons not to intentionally avoid hiring older workers
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I found a case where an employee’s First Amendment rights were violated. Almost.
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Wrongful termination? Freedom of speech? Bless her heart.
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Here’s an FMLA interference case that Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld would appreciate
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Oh, man! A guy accused TWICE of touching women inappropriately claimed sex discrimination.
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If you hire someone who says they are in a drug treatment program, don’t do this…
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Indirect consequences of not accommodating disabilities at work can land employers in hot water
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No religious accommodation. No discipline. No problem.
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A employee in Puerto Rico needed an accommodation to avoid the humidity. Ok.
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Can employees use their religion as an excuse not to work with LGBTQ coworkers?
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Can a lateral transfer be discriminatory? The Supreme Court is about to weigh in.
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The Supreme Court just revamped religious accommodations at work. I’ll explain in plain English.
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What was an employer thinking fired a worker two days after complaining about “retaliation” and “harassment”?
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Could two little resumé errors torpedo an employee’s claims that her race got her fired?
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Starting today, most of your workers have new, federal pregnancy-related employment protections
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Even in one of the most employee-friendly states, COVID-19 isn’t necessarily a disability
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Have you ever had 65 employees seek FMLA at the same time with the same doctor’s notes?
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Holy hell! The Department of Labor apparently caught an employer using a fake priest to get employees to confess workplace sins.
The Employer Handbook Blog