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Employment Law

Carefully track all details when replacing older worker

06/13/2019
To win an age discrimination case, a worker usually must prove she was replaced by someone significantly younger.

Work just sorta stinks? Judge says, ‘Too bad!’

06/13/2019
When it comes to work, pleasant is often good enough. Perfection is probably too much to ask for. Courts understand this, and won’t let a lawsuit advance if it’s just based on common gripes.

Conversations among co-workers can be enough to certify class-action lawsuit

06/13/2019
When an employee claims she wasn’t paid properly under the Fair Labor Standards Act, she can ask the court to represent all other similarly situated workers in a potentially costly class-action suit. It doesn’t take much more than a few casual conversations with co-workers for a single plaintiff to move a class-action lawsuit forward.

Transfer after taking FMLA leave? That could be considered retaliation

06/13/2019
If you transfer an employee soon after she has returned from FMLA leave, you could wind up facing an FMLA retaliation lawsuit. And as long as the employee can show the transfer was motivated by the use of FMLA leave, she can take a lawsuit to a jury.

HCE exemption hard for worker to challenge

06/13/2019
Employees who earn at least $100,000 per year to perform office work and at least one duty required under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s administrative, executive or professional classifications may be considered Highly Compensated Employees who are exempt from the law’s overtime requirements. Few workers who challenge an HCE classification win.

Act immediately to put a stop to harassment

06/13/2019
Employers that take every sexual harassment complaint seriously, investigate the allegations and act fast to stop it usually prevail if an internal complaint turns into a lawsuit. A recent case demonstrates what employers should routinely do.

When exempt ‘managers’ do all work, expect lawsuits

06/13/2019
When retail managers you classify as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime provisions end up doing the bulk of the work in the store, you may have a misclassification problem.

No ‘magic words’ needed for bias complaint

06/13/2019
Employees are protected from retaliation for reporting discrimination or complaining about other Title VII violations. It’s even true if the employee doesn’t specifically state what kind of discrimination she’s charging, if she has generally been complaining about it over some time.

Back pain common, but not always a disability

06/13/2019
Back pain is the most commonly cited cause of work-related disability. But is back pain always an ADA-qualifying disability?

Ensure dress code allows for religious needs

06/11/2019
Your dress code must allow some leeway for religious exemptions. The EEOC takes religious discrimination seriously and has been aggressively going after employers that enforce dress codes that unnecessarily restrict employees’ faith-mandated attire.