The Employer Handbook Blog

In its war on background checks, the EEOC loses a major early battle

August 12, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Late last year, in this post, I highlighted the six issues that the United States Equal Employment Commission prioritized in its Strategic Enforcement Plan. Numero uno is eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring.

Even before it released its Strategic Enforcement Plan, earlier in 2012, the EEOC telegraphed that it would closely scrutinize criminal background checks employers run on job applicants to determine whether they may disparately impact minorities.

But even before that, in 2009, the EEOC came out guns blazing, when it announced a lawsuit against Freeman (also known as the Freeman Companies), a nationwide convention, exhibition and corporate events marketing company. In it’s lawsuit, the EEOC alleged that Freeman unlawfully “rejected job applicants based on their credit history and if they have had one or more of various types of criminal charges or convictions.”

Hiring managers share 10 awesome job pitches, and 10 epic fails!

August 9, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

There’s a fine line between genius and insanity.

Voting for this blog for the ABA Journal Blawg100 (today is the last day to nominate blogs, so, please, please, please): genius;
Boston Red Sox Chardonnay: nutbars.

Few courts award w/c to the drunk, pot-smoker, who falls on his head while peeing

August 8, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

This is the story of a longshoreman who, on January 8, 2006, drank two beers before going to work at 8:00 a.m. Between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., he knocked back another three cold ones. At lunch, he washed down his liquid breakfast and snack with another four to five more beers. Between the end of lunch and the end of the day (approximately 4:00 p.m.), the longshoreman ignored the old “beer then liquor, never sicker” refrain and downed a pint of whiskey.

Now, if you’re keeping score at home, his blood alcohol level right about 4:30 was .25. For those of you teetotalers who may be wondering, how bad is .25? Three sheets to the wind, at a minimum; possibly more drunk than John Daly was that time at Hooters.

But I digress, all that booze from dawn to dusk warrants a bathroom break and the longshoreman decided to relieve himself at quittin’ time near the bull rail of the dock. Unfortunately, while urinating, the longshoreman fell over the bull rail onto a concrete and steel ledge (approximately six feet below the rail). At the hospital, the docs diagnosed the longshoreman with acute alcohol intoxication — ya think? –, cannabis ingestion, and a severe scalp laceration to his right temple.

It’s THIS easy to be considered disabled under the ADA

August 7, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

When the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act went into effect in 2009, it significantly lowered the bar for proving a “disability.”

How low did it go?

[cue ironic music, you’ll see in a sec…]

Want a really stupid adjective to use on an employee’s performance review?

August 6, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Then I suggest “ghetto.”

Consider this your performance review ProTip for Tuesday, courtesy of this recent decision from a Texas federal court, in which an employer’s summary judgment motion was denied, and a Mexican-American plaintiff’s race and national origin discrimination claims will proceed to trial.

The smoking gun, it seems, was an affidavit from one of the plaintiff’s supervisors filed in support of the employer’s motion for summary judgment, in which the supervisor stated, “I advised Ms. Garza that this ‘ghetto-ness’ would no longer be tolerated, and that she would be terminated if it continued.” The plaintiff argued that this statement was direct evidence of discrimination against her. The defendant countered with the argument that “cases in which comments containing the word ‘ghetto’ have been viewed as facially discriminatory generally involve African American employees, while Garza is Hispanic.”

Judge dismisses “Borgata Babes'” claims of weight discrimination

August 5, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Sex sells. So, when 22 female cocktail servers at an Atlantic City casino pursued claims of discrimination based on their appearance, it came as little shock to me that the judge wasn’t buying.

Last month, a New Jersey state court dismissed a lawsuit against the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, brought by cocktail waitresses known as the “Borgata Babes,” who claimed that they were victims of gender and weight discrimination.

Jennifer Bogdan, writing here for the Press of Atlantic City, notes that, upon hire, Borgata told its servers that they must appear “physically fit” with their weight proportionate to their height and, ultimately, banned the servers from gaining more than 7 percent of their body weight. Supposedly, the women were subject to periodic weight checks and suspension for failing to meet the weight requirements, with exceptions made for medical conditions and pregnancy.

Man pays court-ordered settlement in quarters — 600,000 of them!

August 2, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=odY8nff3h0w

Yes, quarter.

Seriously, how pissed off do you need to be to pay out $150,000 of a court-ordered settlement in quarters? Jacob Gershman of The Wall Street Journal‘s Law Blog, writes here that a retired surgeon had a unique way of expressing his displeasure with having to pay out a sizable chunk of court-ordered change.

GUEST POST: Six key aspects of an employee wellness program

August 1, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today we have a guest blogger at The Employer Handbook. It’s Joel Cook. Joel is head of strategy at EDP where a team of health & safety consultants work to help businesses improve their employees’ health and wellbeing.

(Want to guest blog on an employment-law topic at The Employer Handbook? Email me).

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Senate confirms five members to the National Labor Relations Board

July 31, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

Ladies and gentlemen, the National Labor Relations Board is back in business.

(Well, somebody tell that to the Board, where it’s been business as usual lately. More on that in a moment.)

Yesterday, the Senate voted mainly along party lines to confirm five members — a full slate — to the Board.

An employee who sleeps on the job may still be qualified under the ADA

July 30, 2013 | by Eric B. Meyer

That George Costanza was definitely on to something.

A federal court in Virginia (here) recently denied an employer’s attempt to dismiss the complaint of a former employee who claimed that his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act were violated when his employer failed to accommodate him by waking him when he fell asleep on the job.

The ADA requires that an employer accommodate a disabled employee, if doing so will not cause undue burden to the employer, but will still allow the employee to perform the essential functions of his job.