Employment Law

Beware retaliation if worker has been involved in government inquiry

02/21/2018

In order for an employee to claim he or she suffered retaliation, some form of protected activity has to have occurred to precipitate the unlawful punishment. What constitutes protected activity depends on the specific law under which the employee claims protection. It’s not enough to merely complain about working conditions.

Regardless of prior leave, prepare to offer more time off as a reasonable accommodation

02/21/2018

Under the disability discrimination provisions of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, employers are required to offer extended leave as a reasonable accommodation for disabled employees—as long as the employee provides an estimated return date.

Appeals court rules: Discrimination based on employee’s obesity may violate FEHA

02/21/2018

Workers whose obesity has physiological causes are protected from discrimination and harassment under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Supervisors who discriminate against those workers may face liability.

CFRA: Light duty OK following injury

02/21/2018

A California employer didn’t violate the California Family Rights Act when it allowed a worker to return to light-duty work following an on-the-job light injury.

Courts will toss unfair arbitration agreements

02/21/2018

Courts are particularly unlikely to consider an arbitration agreement binding if it appears the employee did not understand what he was signing.

NLRB: Anti-diversity Google engineer wasn’t illegally fired

02/21/2018

A National Labor Relations Board attorney recommended dismissing an unfair labor practices claim filed by a Google engineer who says he was illegally fired for stating that women are biologically unsuited for computer coding.

Guess who else is invoking #MeToo: the EEOC

02/21/2018

The #MeToo social media movement has been wildly successful at shining a spotlight on the sexual harassment women often experience at work. Now the EEOC has begun using #MeToo in press releases announcing sexual harassment litigation.

States take lead on raising overtime salary thresholds

02/21/2018

The Obama-era plan to raise the salary threshold for overtime-exempt employees from $23,660 to $47,476 died in the courts. Now the DOL says it’s looking into a more modest raise in the threshold—somewhere near $33,000. But some states aren’t waiting.

Impartial discipline: The best defense against bias claims

02/20/2018

Treat all employees impartially and you’ll rarely end up on the losing end of a discrimination lawsuit.

No slack for employees who take FMLA, then get caught breaking your rules

02/20/2018

Employees who take FMLA leave are not immune to discipline discovered while they are out on FMLA leave or after they return to work.