Employment Law Letter

Back to basics: No retaliation claim if no protected activity

Retaliation claims are among the most numerous types of employee claims processed through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state EEO agencies. Central to the claims is whether an employee engaged in...

Apr 30, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

You can no longer force employees to arbitrate sexual harassment claims

Inspired by the #MeToo movement, the U.S. Senate recently passed H.R. 4445, an amendment to the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), also known as the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of...

Countdown underway for contractors to comply with OFCCP verification initiative

March 30, 2022, is the deadline for federal contractors and subcontractors to register in the contractor portal recently launched by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Then they will have until...

Back in office or not? That question looms as pandemic subsides

As COVID-19 levels continue dropping across the country, employers are trying to plan out what the office environment will look like for the rest of the year. While many people have returned to school, restaurants, and...

Are employer vaccine mandates legal? 5th Circuit weighs in, sort of

As employers have continued to grapple with workplace challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant number have implemented mandatory vaccination policies. United Airlines instituted a policy, and employees...

Summer hiring season is almost here! Time to plan for employing minors

With summer approaching, many employers will be turning their attention to staffing up for the season. The summer workforce includes a substantial number of minors. So, this is a good time to consider the issues involved...

Apr 30, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · California · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Getting a handle on conflict and annoyance in the workplace

In a perfect world, coworkers would work in harmony and creativity and productivity would soar. No one would have to deal with outright hostility or even petty annoyances. But as every HR professional knows, it’s not a...

Apr 30, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · California · New York · Texas · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Tips for getting women back in the workforce after COVID-triggered disruption

To call what COVID-19 has done to the workforce a disruption is certainly an understatement. But now in the third year of the pandemic, employers and employees are going ahead with efforts to return to the workplace—at...

Jury to decide if fired truck driver was victim of disability, age bias

A former employee filed a lawsuit arguing he was discriminated against based on his disability and age when his former employer denied his request to be reassigned to a different position. The case reminds employers of...

Apr 24, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

DOJ urges state court to use antitrust principles to invalidate noncompetes

Noncompete agreements between employers and their employees traditionally are governed by state law. But that didn’t stop the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from recently filing a statement of...

NLRB targets more restrictive standard for handbooks, work rules

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) upcoming decision in Stericyle, Inc., may affect how it assesses the lawfulness of employer work rules and handbook policies in both union and nonunion workplaces. The Board’s...

Union president can’t split claims, 9th Circuit says

A union local president in Las Vegas was removed from office because of alleged financial irregularities and later filed two lawsuits asserting roughly the same claims against the same parties. Read on to learn how they...

Apr 24, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · California

Court strikes down unconscionable arbitration agreement

Almost every employment arbitration agreement is provided on a take-it-or-leave-it basis, so it will be deemed procedurally unconscionable. It makes matters much worse if you provide a Spanish-speaking employee with an...

Apr 24, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · California

Affiliated businesses with at least 15 employees may be single employer for ADA purposes

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies only to employers with 15 or more employees. Even when an organization has a smaller number of workers, however, an individual can file an ADA claim by showing the...

Apr 24, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · California

U.S. Supreme Court may invalidate California’s PAGA

California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) allows employees to file lawsuits as “private attorneys general” over California Labor Code violations. In other words, a current or former employee may go to...

Apr 10, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · California

Delaware Lauren Russell of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP
Maryland Steven E. Bers and David M. Stevens of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, L.L.P.
New Jersey John C. Petrella and Dina M. Mastellone of Genova Burns LLC
Pennsylvania Dena Calo, Lisa Koblin, Carolyn Pellegrini, and Zachary Kimmel of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP
Virginia Jonathan Mook and Bernard J. DiMuro of DiMuroGinsberg PC

Employment Law Letter

Mid-Atlantic Editors