It’s pretty clear I love a good comeuppance. In my last blog post, I reveled in an Administrative Law Judge’s reprimand of the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board for bringing a frivolous complaint against an employer. In an earlier post, I discussed with glee a federal judge’s upbraiding of the
Fiona W. Ong
Harassment for Not Being Sexually Loose, Promiscuous and Predatory?
By Fiona W. Ong on
Posted in Laws & Regulations, Sexual Harassment
Courts have recognized same-sex harassment claims based on a failure to conform to gender stereotypes – such as when a male plaintiff is harassed for being effeminate or exhibiting traditionally feminine characteristics (see my prior blog post on harassment of a male ironworker because of his use of Wet Ones instead of toilet paper!). In…
FMLA, ADA and Fitness for Duty Examinations
By Fiona W. Ong on
When an employee comes back from Family and Medical Leave Act leave with a fitness-for-duty (FFD) certification from his health care provider in hand, many employers still require the employee to undergo a separate FFD examination by the employer’s own health care provider or employee health office before allowing the employee to return to work. …
After-Hours Sexual Harassment Requires Overtime Pay
By Fiona W. Ong on
There are many sexual harassment cases, but this one, Malphurs v. Cooling Tower Systems, Inc., really caught my attention: The plaintiff claimed that the owner of the company often made her work late so that he could sexually harass her when they were alone. These late hours were overtime, but the owner allegedly refused…
Employers Can Be Liable for Harassment by Outsiders
By Fiona W. Ong on
Employers (most of them, anyway) understand that they must protect their employees from harassment by their co-workers or supervisors. A recent case, Freeman v. Dal-Tile Corp., provides a reminder that they must also protect their employees from harassment by outsiders.
The employer, Dal-Tile, did a significant amount of business with another company, VoStone. The…
Decriminalizing Possession of Marijuana – What Does This Mean for Maryland Employers?
By Fiona W. Ong on
My teenagers thought that the new Maryland law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana meant that smoking pot was now legal. I’m sure many people have that misconception. Sadly for them, and for my kids, that is not correct.
This legislation, which takes effect on October 1, 2014, decriminalizes the possession of less…
Do You Have To Talk To Your Employee’s Lawyer?
By Fiona W. Ong on
You know how it goes. You have an employee with issues – performance, health, whatever. The relationship with the employee starts deteriorating. Now the employee wants his lawyer to be involved in any further discussions. What do you do?
As a general matter, an employee doesn’t have a right to bring his attorney to work. …
FMLA Does Not Apply to Care for Unborn Child
By Fiona W. Ong on
Posted in Employee Leave (FMLA and ADA)
In an interesting twist on the right to care for family members under the Family and Medical Leave Act, a court has held that the FMLA does not apply to unborn children.
In the case of Lukudu v. JBS USA, LLC, an employee was on final written warning for attendance violations. He then called…
Employee Held To Choice Not To Invoke FMLA
By Fiona W. Ong on
Posted in Employee Leave (FMLA and ADA)
Sometimes, you can actually take an employee at her word. Even if she later claims she didn’t mean it. This happened in the case of Escriba v. Foster Poultry Farms, Inc., where the employee requested two weeks off to care for her father in Guatemala – a reason that would have been covered under…
New Performance Standards Could Be Pretext for Discrimination
By Fiona W. Ong on
In our troubled economic times, many employers have focused on making their workforce leaner and more efficient. This frequently involves raising performance standards for employees. But it is important to do so in a thoughtful and legally defensible way.
An illustration of this point can be found in the case of Dupont v. Allina Health …