The Employer Handbook Blog

FACT OR FICTION: To protect a pregnant employee, a company can make her stay home.

January 20, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post.”

Oh, if I had a nickel for every time I got this question from an employer, “Hey Eric. We have this pregnant employee and she is very close to term. We’re concerned that if she continues working all the way up to childbirth, she may harm herself or the fetus. Can we require her to stay home?”

Eek! Check out this recent press release from the EEOC in which the agency announced that it is suing an employer, which allegedly required a pregnant employee to take unpaid leave until she was cleared by a doctor indicating that she could work despite her pregnancy. The EEOC further alleges, when the employee failed to provide a release, and after she and her mother disputed the legality of the requirement, the employee was fired in retaliation.

He filed for custody of the kids; she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit

January 19, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

I couldn’t make this set of facts up if I tried.

More after the jump…

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We now have an employee/independent contractor test in NJ for wage and hour

January 16, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Oyez oyez.

The New Joisy Supreme Court just fashioned a test to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor for purposes of resolving a wage-payment or wage-and-hour claim. And, shockingly, it doesn’t involve jughandles, diners, or Taylor Ham.

(I live in NJ now, so I can say that stuff and get away with it).

I’ve got all the details after the jump…

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President Obama to push for paid sick leave for American workers

January 15, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

In an announcement made late in the day yesterday on LinkedIn, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama, posted that President Obama will call upon Congress today to pass the Healthy Families Act.

More on this push from the President and what it will mean for American business, after the jump…

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Court ok’s firing of employee who made “inappropriately intense” Facebook posts

January 14, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

You know all that stuff you read on the internet about employees who can badmouth their boss on the internet, all in the name of free speech, and not get fired for it….

Yeah, about that…

[More after the jump…]

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I was right. This appellate court employment-law decision was one of the worst of 2014.

January 13, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

About a year ago, I blogged here about a dreadful Sixth Circuit opinion, in which the court concluded that the plaintiff may have a discrimination claim for receiving the specific transfer he requested (after having interviewed for the position).

Now, if you read the comments on my post, you’ll see that some of my readers took issue with my analysis of the case.

Well, I see your comments and raise you a scathing Justice Alito dissent from the United States Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari:

Saks claims transsexual discrimination is legal. And here’s why they’re probably right.

January 12, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Over the weekend, I joined a Facebook thread discussing a recent federal court complaint filed in Texas by a former Saks employee, Leyth O. Jamal. Ms. Jamal claims that Saks violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against her because she is transsexual.

Saks claims (here) that the complaint lacks merit because Title VII doesn’t prohibit discrimination against transgender employees.

Writing for Slate.com, Mark Joseph Stern calls out Saks’ “trans-bashing legal strategy” as “legally untenable.” Underscoring the Supreme Court’s decision in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, Mr. Stern notes that Title VII forbids sexual stereotyping. For example, in Price Waterhouse, the company allegedly treated Ms. Hopkins differently because she was “macho,” was “tough talking” and used “foul language.” That is, she didn’t conform to the company’s expectations of how a woman should act in the workplace.

DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN

January 9, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Over the past few days, there’s been a lot of buzz going around the HR-interwebz a/k/a the hella-best part of the ‘net. The buzz was that The Employer Handbook went back-to-back and claimed the 2014 ABA Blawg100 honors by getting the most readers votes as top labor and employment law blog. For example…

Congratulations to @eric_b_meyer: And The ABA 2014 LawBlawg Employment Category Winner Is….. http://t.co/s1ADIKNajq

— Donna Ballman (@EmployeeAtty) January 8, 2015

Thursday’s #SocialMedia and the #Workplace Hot List

January 8, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

Another bartender decided to liken beer to domestic violence. It was all captured on social media. [CBS Chicago]

An employee’s caustic Facebook post about a police shooting earned her a termination…and unemployment compensation benefits. [Technology & Marketing Law Blog]

Social media users did not respond well to the Undercover Boss episode about the owner who fired a bikini bartender for not wearing a bikini. [Jezebel]

If you employ progressive discipline, don’t slap your employees with a bearded dragon

January 7, 2015 | by Eric B. Meyer

And by bearded dragon, I mean, well, bearded dragon.

This warning holds true even if you operate a reptile store. Chris Joseph of the Broward/Palm Beach New Times reports (here) that a Florida reptile store owner was “arrested on battery and cruelty to animal charges on Friday after he allegedly hit some of his employees with a live lizard multiple times.”

It’s all in this police report. Additionally, according to Joseph article, the same store previously had “hosted a roach-eating contest that ended up killing contestant after he choked on the dozens of roaches and worms during the contest.”