$3.8 million dollars. That’s what a Tucson, Arizona jury awarded to a former fire paramedic denied workplace accommodations required under the Fair Labor Standards Act for women who want to pump breast milk for their infants. Under the law, for the first year after the birth of a child, employers must provide non-exempt employees with reasonable breaks to pump. Employers also must provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from the view of others and that is free from intrusion by coworkers or others.
Continue Reading Lactation Law Verdict Sends a Message: Don’t Mess With Mom!
Being Required to Hire Female Escorts Is Not Actually a Title VII Violation
I found a recent case to be a peculiar example of how Title VII is not a “general civility code” in the workplace. In Butto v. CJKant Resource Group, LLC, a male executive was terminated after complaining about being required to arrange female escorts for his married supervisor and perform other activities to facilitate his supervisor’s infidelity. It seems like a reasonable complaint, right? But does that mean it was protected under Title VII?
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Employers Must Submit EEO-1 Pay Data By September 30, 2019
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has stated that it will collect the pay data required by its revised EEO-1 form by September 30, 2019. Given this unexpected development, employers must begin thinking about compliance with this new requirement while awaiting further instructions from the EEOC.
Who Must File an EEO-1 Form? Employers who are required to file an EEO-1 form are (1) those subject to Title VII with 100 or more employees; and (2) federal contractors and first-tier subcontractors subject to Executive Order 11246 with 50 or more employees and a contract, subcontract, or purchase order amounting to $50,000 or more.
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An Employer’s Guide to March Madness
March Madness has descended upon employers everywhere. Yesterday was Selection Sunday for the NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament, and today, an estimated 40 million Americans will begin filling out their tournament brackets – many of them at work. And when the tournament begins, you can be sure that many employees will be checking scores at the office, if not actually watching the game. Others may call in sick after a late night game (particularly if their team lost). Team gear, talking smack – what to do?
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Pharmacist Afraid of Needles? Be a Stickler About Essential Job Functions!!
According to Pharmajet Blog, a surprising number of pharmacists suffer from trypanophobia – the fear of giving injections, which most in their profession have to do these days during flu season. As Pharmajet notes, the Americans with Disabilities Act generally does not help the needle-phobic pharmacist because companies have a right to define the essential functions of a job.Continue Reading Pharmacist Afraid of Needles? Be a Stickler About Essential Job Functions!!
FOIA Request to the EEOC – Maybe Think About Section 83 Instead?
For all you employment litigators, we just learned that you don’t have to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in order to get its file on a plaintiff’s charge of discrimination! What?! Our (admittedly somewhat limited) world has been rocked!
Continue Reading FOIA Request to the EEOC – Maybe Think About Section 83 Instead?
“…federal judges are appointed for life, not for eternity.”
And with that elegantly pointed statement, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated an opinion on the Equal Pay Act that had been issued by the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (i.e. the entire group of judges on the Ninth Circuit bench). The opinion had been authored by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who unexpectedly passed away on March 29, 2018. The opinion was not issued until April 9, 2018 – 11 days after his death.
Continue Reading “…federal judges are appointed for life, not for eternity.”
Yes, Unions Discriminate Against Workers Too!
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that it entered into a consent decree resolving its race discrimination lawsuit against a union representing firefighters. This is particularly ironic, given that unions hold themselves out as advocates for workers’ rights.
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Another State Finds No Federal Preemption of Its Medical Marijuana Law
Employer obligations to consider the use of medical marijuana as a reasonable accommodation just got murkier with a new case out of Delaware, Chance v. Kraft Heinz Foods Co., decided in December 2018.
Continue Reading Another State Finds No Federal Preemption of Its Medical Marijuana Law
RIFs Are Not the Easy Solution for Problem Employees
Some employers view a reduction in force as an apparently easy and clean way to get rid of employees they do not want – like poor performers, who have not been properly performance-managed. There may even be less appropriate considerations in mind – an older employee viewed as slowing down, an employee with health problems who has missed a lot of work, a pregnant employee who will need leave after her child’s birth. These employers assume that if the employee accepts a severance package and signs a release, the matter is closed. The case of Hawks v. Ballantine Communications, Inc., however, highlights the peril of such thinking.
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