The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently issued two press releases: one announcing a disability discrimination lawsuit and another about a recent settlement of age and disability discrimination claims. Both involve supervisors who allegedly thought they knew more than medical professionals.
They were wrong. Continue reading
A single incident, like a supervisor calling a black employee the “n” word, may be enough to create a hostile work environment. But what if the victim doesn’t witness it? Continue reading
The New Jersey Supreme Court has weighed in not once but twice this month on important employment law issues. So, if you operate a business in the Garden State, I’ll bring you up to speed on that, plus some new pending legislation.
(For the rest of you, have a nice weekend, and maybe add some pork roll or Taylor Ham to your breakfast sandwich.) Continue reading
Earlier this month, a federal appellate court addressed a few situations involving retaliation claims in the workplace in which parties (and sometimes courts) may misapply the law, namely, Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964.
So, let’s clear this up. Continue reading
If your business provides a self-funded health insurance plan to its employees, that health plan covers “medically necessary” services, and you’re not keen on defending sex discrimination claims, then keep reading. Continue reading
An employer recently learned the hard way that a proper response to an employee’s complaint of harassment involves more than simply investigating it.
I’ll explain. Continue reading
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee announced that it had advanced the Protecting Older Americans Act, which would invalidate forced arbitration clauses requiring employees to arbitrate age discrimination claims, whether for disparate treatment, disparate impact, harassment, or retaliation.
15 Senators voted in favor and 6 against.
Continue reading
Occasionally, I post about MONSTER discrimination jury verdicts, some in the seven and eight figures. I do it for shock value and, often, the clicks. (Guilty as charged.)
But posts about the subsequent remittitur, where a federal judge slashes the compensatory or punitive damages award to $300,000 or less, don’t get nearly as many clicks. Continue reading
Today, I will tell you about an employee caught sleeping on the job.
Several times. Continue reading
Yesterday, I wrote about how the DEA’s move to ease restrictions on marijuana would change the ADA landscape for employers by requiring accommodations for employees with disabilities who use medical cannabis to treat.
For now, however, marijuana remains a Schedule One drug. So, the Americans with Disabilities Act does not protect individuals with actual disabilities who lose their jobs for testing positive because the ADA does not protect individuals engaging in “the illegal use of drugs” within the meaning of the statute.
But what if the employee does not have an actual disability? Continue reading
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