I’m embarrassed to admit that I used to be one of those people who hate dogs.  How could anyone dislike an adorable bundle of fur that excitedly greets you each time you walk in the door, you ask?  I know, it’s crazy.  Fortunately, I’ve come to my senses and now gush over any dog I see – anytime, anywhere.  So this begs the question: will I ever be able to see a dog every day while I’m at work? Continue Reading Raining Cats and Dogs in the Workplace? It’s Pawssible

The incessant rain on the East Coast, interspersed with weird calms of blue-sky sunniness, are jarring in ways that make one reflect.  What I reflect upon these days is the speed with which people’s careers are destroyed, like a burst of rain displacing the sun, when they do something stupid that in “my old days” would fade away. Continue Reading Twitter Storms, Flash Floods, No Jobs

Recently, I blogged about a press release from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in which it misstated the law on post-offer medical examinations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. I was hoping that was a one-off mistake. But another recent EEOC press release has given me some concern, because I believe that it again misleads employers on their obligations under the ADA – this time with regard to associational discrimination. Continue Reading Another Misleading EEOC Press Release on the ADA…

Back in 2016, on behalf of the Worklaw®Network, a nationwide association of independent labor and employment law firms of which Shawe Rosenthal is a member, we filed suit against the U.S. Department of Labor to block the DOL’s new interpretation of the “persuader rule,” which is the advice exemption of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (“LMRDA”). Several other suits were filed as well, a nationwide injunction was issued by a federal court in Texas, the DOL issued a proposed rule to rescind the new interpretation, and now, repeatedly citing the favorable decisions in our lawsuit and directly quoting the comments to the DOL’s proposed rule we submitted on behalf of Worklaw, the DOL has officially rescinded the rule. Continue Reading We Sued the DOL, and the DOL Blinked

The FDA recently approved Epidiolex (cannabidiol), which contains a marijuana-derived drug substance, for the treatment of two rare forms of epilepsy.  Does this mean that the federal government is saying that people can now begin using a marijuana-based drug treatment – including employees in the workplace? Not so fast. Continue Reading The Smoke Hasn’t Cleared: What’s the Workplace Impact of the FDA’s Approval of a Marijuana Based Drug?

Co-Author Nick Vogt*

In Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, the United States Supreme Court held that public sector unions may not assess union fees against non-union employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement. In so holding, the Supreme Court overturned its decades-old ruling in the case of Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, in which the Court held that public sector unions could assess fees regardless of membership status, because all employees benefit from union collective bargaining agreements regardless of union membership. Continue Reading Supreme Court Holds that Public Sector Unions May Not Assess Union Fees Against Non-Union Employees

I was perusing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recently released Volume 2 of its 2018 Federal Digest of Equal Employment Opportunity Law (yes, I know I need some better hobbies), and noticed an article entitled, “Assessing Workplace Harassment Prevention Methods Through Comparisons With Similar Crime Prevention Strategies.” The article posits that “[b]y comparing harassment prevention strategies to similar crime prevention efforts, for which empirical research already exists, the EEOC hopes to identify useful tools for preventing workplace harassment.” Well, that struck me as an interesting, if somewhat questionable, approach. But let’s look at what the EEOC says. Continue Reading The EEOC Compares Harassment Prevention to Crime Prevention

This week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission trumpeted a $4.4 million settlement in a lawsuit in which the EEOC claimed that Amsted Rail had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by disqualifying applicants based on the results of a test for carpal tunnel syndrome. In the EEOC’s press release, Andrea G. Baran, regional attorney for the EEOC’s St Louis District Office, was quoted as follows: “While it is lawful under some circumstances for employers to conduct limited medical exams after making conditional offers to job applicants, it is not ‘anything goes’.” Wait, what? Actually, I thought it was “anything goes” at that point! Continue Reading What Is the EEOC’s Position on Post-offer/Pre-employment Medical Exams?

On June 6, 2018, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board issued guidance on lawful and unlawful handbook rules under the National Labor Relations Act. This guidance follows the GC’s December 1, 2017 withdrawal of prior guidance on handbook rules that had been issued in 2015. Shortly thereafter, on December 14, 2017, the Board issued its decision in The Boeing Co., in which it articulated a new and more balanced test for assessing the legality of workplace rules, applicable to both unionized and non-unionized employers.  Continue Reading NLRB Issues New (And More Balanced) Guidance on Handbook Rules