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Employment Law

Federal court says technicality makes PWFA unconstitutional

04/05/2024
A federal trial court in Texas has dealt a blow to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, ruling on a technicality that the federal law requiring most employers to reasonably accommodate pregnancy-related limitations is unconstitutional.

Who qualifies as ‘family’ for FMLA purposes? It could be anyone

04/05/2024
The FMLA allows employees to take up to 12 unpaid weeks of job-protected leave when they’re needed to care for a close family member such as a child or parent. The eligibility criteria seem simple. Surely a child is one’s offspring and a parent is one’s biological or adoptive mom or dad. Using a Latin phrase—in loco parentis—the DOL says almost anyone can be a close family member under the right circumstances.

All the ways losing a bias case can cost you

04/05/2024
It can be frightening to hear an employee has filed an EEOC complaint or launched a federal discrimination lawsuit. Headlines emphasizing multimillion-dollar jury verdicts don’t help. Here’s what’s at stake should an employee win a discrimination lawsuit.

Disability accommodation not working? Restart interactive process before making changes

03/29/2024
Sometimes, an employee’s health condition changes, requiring a modification of a previously chosen accommodation. When that happens, the interactive process must start all over again. Employers cannot unilaterally drop an accommodation or substitute another.

Bill introduced to make 32-hour workweek the norm

03/25/2024
The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to cut the standard workweek from 40 hours per week to 32.

DOL lawsuit accuses farm of ‘Godfather’-style retaliation

03/25/2024
Want to know what you shouldn’t do if employees question their pay? Leave a severed pig’s head at their workstation.

DEI program survives lawsuit alleging reverse discrimination

03/25/2024
A recent 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals case may slow down the fight to kill DEI programs for employers that believe the initiatives are both necessary and serve a legitimate business purpose.

Pending Supreme Court ruling could cause regulatory chaos

03/25/2024
The Chevron rule has been the basis for federal agency rulemaking since 1984. Based on questioning during arguments in Loper v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce, it looks as if the court is ready to either overturn Chevron or severely limit its reach. A decision is expected no later than the end of the current Supreme Court term in June.

EEOC collects record $665 million from employers

03/25/2024
The EEOC collected a record amount of money for victims of employment discrimination, according to the agency’s Annual Performance Report for Fiscal Year 2023. The report says the EEOC took in $665 million from employers on behalf of workers, a 30% increase compared to FY 2022.

Know your obligations for safeguarding employee data, preventing cyberattacks

03/22/2024
Data breaches may seem inevitable, but that’s no consolation for employees who have been victims of identity theft. Many a lawsuit alleging negligence has been filed against employers that were lax about data security. To prevail in those kinds of cases, you must be prepared to show you made reasonable efforts to prevent data leaks.