What if a Black employee uses the N-word in the workplace, directed at no one in particular, and gets fired? Can that employee claim race discrimination under Title VII? A federal judge in Pennsylvania just called that argument “an absurdity.” Continue reading
When an employee voluntarily resigns to work somewhere else, it may feel like fallout from a workplace conflict. But under Title VII, it isn’t punishment or “discipline.” Continue reading
An airline services company once thought a single scheduled break was enough time for a new mom to pump breast milk. The result? A federal lawsuit that is still headed to trial, and a reminder of what today’s PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act now makes crystal clear. Continue reading
When a White Jewish university employee claimed discipline for racially charged remarks amounted to discrimination, the court disagreed. It called the case something else entirely, and in doing so, it drew an important boundary for every employer. Continue reading
It started with a sick day, a spreadsheet literally called “My Passwords.xlsx,” and a colleague trying to help. It ended with a company accusing two former employees of federal computer crimes and trade secret theft.
The Third Circuit’s response? Nice try — but workplace policy violations aren’t hacking. Continue reading
When employees clock in, they expect to do their jobs, not sit through political speeches, anti-union campaigns, or religious lectures from their boss. New Jersey just turned that expectation into a legal right. Continue reading
Before we get to the law, let’s admit it: anytime a case involves a supervisor leaning in to whisper in someone’s ear, you can almost hear George Michael’s sax riff in the background. But as this recent federal court decision shows, not every whisper, awkward or otherwise, creates a viable harassment or retaliation claim. Continue reading
You think you’ve solved the problem. You separate the employee from the alleged harasser. You tell him not to contact her—ever. Years pass without incident. Then one day, the same two people cross paths again, and a decision that stops short of firing her, but directly threatens her pay and job security, is enough to keep a quid pro quo sexual harassment claim alive. Continue reading
A transit agency thought it had a clear-cut reason to fire an employee under its no-fault attendance policy. But a disputed call-out, followed by a retroactive FMLA approval, now means a jury gets to decide whether the termination was lawful. Continue reading
This isn’t just a cromulent decision—it’s a reminder that attorneys’ fees can’t be used to shoehorn a small state wage claim into federal court. Continue reading
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