Starting July 1, Virginia will be the first state in the southern United States to allow the use of recreational marijuana. That’s because on April 21, at the close of this year’s General Assembly session, Governor Ralph...
Employment Law Letter
On May 1, Virginia parted company with the federal minimum wage rate for the first time and raised the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.50 per hour. The increase is the product of legislation enacted last year to...
A Form I-9 is required for all new hires to verify their employment eligibility. Before March 2020, employers had to physically inspect original documents the new hires presented for I-9 purposes. After the COVID-19...
An employer can’t be held liable for back pay for a state law retaliation claim during a period when the former employee lacked lawful immigration status to work in the United States, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of...
In South Carolina, a civil conspiracy arises when “there is (1) a combination of two or more persons, (2) for the purpose of injuring the plaintiff, (3) which causes the plaintiff special damage.” For years, the state...
A day after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) completed the H-1B cap-subject lottery selection process in late March, the winners were eligible to start filing. But what if your employee wasn’t selected...
Four related healthcare businesses, their physician owner, and their practice administrator violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in multiple ways, Judge Mary S. McElroy of the U.S. District Court for the District...
Pennsylvania’s highest court recently upheld a decision rendering a no-hire provision contained in a service contract between two companies unenforceable. The court found the provision was overly broad and unduly...
A federal court recently dismissed a lawsuit filed by an employee and his spouse attempting to hold his employer liable for both of them contracting COVID-19. The dismissal should bring comfort to employer anxiety over...
Is an employer liable for employee misconduct at “after-hours” gatherings? When a trial court adopted a narrow view of what constituted “the workplace,” an appeals court weighed in using a “totality of the circumstances”...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has deferred the physical-presence requirements associated with the employment eligibility verification Form I-9 under Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act...
After being terminated for watching pornography on his work computer during work hours, the former employee sued for breach of contract, and the employer countered by asking the court for summary judgment. The case...
A recent Ohio federal district court decision provides a sobering reminder about the problems created when employers make assumptions about disabilities. Specifically, after finding an employee’s medical condition wasn’t...
Four Upper Midwest cities ranked at the top of a recent WalletHub study listing “2021's Best Places for Summer Jobs.” Top contenders included Bismarck, North Dakota (ranked #2), Minneapolis, Minnesota (ranked #15), Rapid...
Q If an employee’s child joins the military and now has health coverage through the military, is she allowed to drop the child’s coverage outside of open enrollment. A Typically, when an employee makes her health...