Two arguments show up in almost every termination lawsuit: that the employer’s reason changed, and that it didn’t follow its own policy. The Eleventh Circuit recently explained why neither argument, without more, is enough to get a case to a jury. Continue reading
Not every workplace conflict that creates turbulence makes it to a jury. This one didn’t. The employer’s investigation held up under the honest-belief doctrine. Continue reading
A recent Southern District of New York decision is being described as “AI destroys privilege.”
That’s not what the court held. But employers using consumer AI tools in connection with employment decisions should pay attention. Continue reading
Constructive discharge is a high bar. But an ultimatum, delivered the wrong way and on the wrong timeline, can be enough to clear it.
That was the lesson from a recent federal court decision involving a pregnant employee who was told she could either keep working under at-will conditions or take six weeks of pay and leave immediately. The employer framed it as a choice. The court said a jury could see it as no choice at all. Continue reading
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: it’s the Monday after the Super Bowl, an employee with approved intermittent FMLA leave asks for a personal day, gets denied, switches to FMLA, and later finds himself terminated for “abuse.”
That is not a hypothetical. It is essentially what happened in a recent decision out of the Southern District of West Virginia, where a federal court refused to throw out an employee’s FMLA retaliation claim and sent the case to a jury. Continue reading
Hiring can feel like a checklist: background check, drug test, start date. But when an applicant raises a disability-related issue, those boxes stop being routine, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) starts asking questions. Continue reading
Sometimes a routine overtime dispute turns into an FMLA problem because no one stops to ask the right questions. A new Eleventh Circuit decision shows how easily that can happen.
Continue reading
Artificial intelligence is changing everything from hiring to customer service, and now Congress wants to know exactly how many American jobs it’s creating… and killing. Continue reading
When an employee on FMLA leave also happens to be a problem employee, HR can feel trapped. A recent federal appellate decision is a reminder that the FMLA is not a shield against legitimate discipline. If the company can show it would have taken the same action regardless of leave, it is on solid legal ground. Continue reading
Sometimes promotions move quietly through the ranks.
No job posting, no formal applications, just a quiet internal decision.
A recent Ninth Circuit decision reminds employers that even those informal moves can create risk under the age-discrimination laws. Continue reading
The Employer Handbook Blog