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The 2019 Maryland General Assembly session ended at midnight on Monday, April 8, with the passage of a number of bills of significance to employers, including minimum wage increases, expanded workplace harassment protections, new leave rights for organ donation, new restrictions on criminal background checks, new limitations on non-compete agreements, additional Equal Pay civil penalties, and reporting requirements for gender diversity on boards. As was widely reported in the press, the General Assembly voted to override Governor Hogan’s veto of the minimum wage bill. The remaining bills await further action by Governor Hogan, who could sign them into law, veto them, or allow them to become law without his signature. At this time, we do not anticipate any other vetoes. Assuming that they become law, all but the minimum wage and ban the box bills will take effect on October 1, 2019. For more details about each of these bills and information about our upcoming webinar to provide guidance on compliance, click here.
Continue Reading New Employment Laws in Maryland – Minimum Wage, Workplace Harassment and More! (And a Webinar!)

Maryland’s General Assembly session just ended, with the passage of significant new employment legislation, including minimum wage increases, expanded workplace harassment protections, new leave rights, restrictions on criminal background checks, and more. We will be holding a complimentary webinar on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern to explain the obligations and requirements of…

As you may know, I am a die-hard management-side lawyer. I usually cheer judicial opinions that uphold the rights of employers, which I feel are too often constrained by well-meaning but easily-abused employment laws. But every now and then, even my management-side soul can be a little surprised by a judge’s pro-employer ruling. This was the situation in the recent case of Dawson v. Housing Authority of Baltimore City.
Continue Reading Forcing Employee to Quit Second Job Is Not a Tangible Job Action?

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?
Continue Reading An Employer’s Guide to March Madness

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!!

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?

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.”

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.
Continue Reading Yes, Unions Discriminate Against Workers Too!

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