There’s been an ongoing battle between employers and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) over when someone is considered an independent contractor versus an employee. A recent decision from the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of...
Employment Law Letter
The Wyoming Supreme Court decided four cases in the last 12 months against the enforcement of employees’ agreements not to compete with their former employer. Although each case was unique, the tenor and direction of...
Q A pregnant employee has applied for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave but has only been employed with our company for about five months, so she doesn’t meet the one-year, 1,250-hours-worked criteria. Are we...
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination based on certain protected categories (e.g., gender) in any aspect of employment. Discrimination can present itself in the form of “hostile work...
He/him. She/her. They/them. With increasing public attention over the past few years to the topics of gender identity, gender fluidity, and the rights of transgender individuals, it has become more common for people to...
HR professionals routinely use legal counsel to obtain advice on compliance issues, risk mitigation, and many other legal issues. Whether it arises in the context of a one-off accommodation question or a months-long...
A restaurant in Burlington, Vermont, recently made headlines after refusing to seat a customer with a service dog. The restaurant owner cited an incident in which a previous patron’s dog attacked a neighboring table. In...
The past few years have heightened feelings of stress and isolation for many people, and with the seemingly continuous news cycle of incidents of mass violence, mental health has taken a much-needed place in the...
In North Dakota, like all states, it’s extremely important for employers to properly identify (and classify) their employees and secure proper workers’ compensation insurance coverage. North Dakota’s Workforce Safety and...
The U.S. Supreme Court recently resolved a long-standing question many courts have wrestled with by holding that a person suing under the four Spending Clause statutes couldn’t recover damages for emotional distress...
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released its long-awaited proposed amendments to the civil rights law. These proposed changes...
Arkansas’s unemployment rates are at the lowest we’ve seen in decades, which means employers across the state are onboarding new employees at an exciting pace. As businesses review their new-hire paperwork, many have had...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently issued a decision that overturned over 20 years of law regarding the type of employment action that is compensable under Title VII of the Civil...
As most employers are aware, Nevada has a two-tier minimum wage system, depending on whether the employer offers qualifying health benefits. Following Assembly Bill 456 (passed by the Nevada Legislature in 2019), each of...
A car salesman who was terminated following customer complaints of a bad attitude cannot get to a jury on his religious discrimination claim according to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all...