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Employment Law

Does the FMLA cover leave for ‘stress’?

12/03/2012
Q. One of our employees has asked to go on medical leave due to “stress.” Does stress qualify as a condition that requires leave?

NLRB expands duty to respond to union information requests

12/03/2012
The NLRB continues to force new requirements on employers from all directions. Its latest salvo comes in its ruling in IronTiger Logistics. The NLRB says resulting new requirements represent an effort at increased civility and common sense in the negotiation process. However, the legal foundation for the ruling is suspect.

Selma, DOJ settles firefighter’s retaliation suit

12/03/2012
The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a settlement with the city of Selma, ending a lawsuit that alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Dallas silkscreener settles ADA complaint

12/03/2012
Dallas-based DuPriest and Sons Holding will pay $24,000 to settle EEOC charges that it violated the ADA when it laid off a longtime employee after he informed his supervisor he would need regular kidney dialysis.

Worker’s heat-related death leads to OSHA fine

12/03/2012
OSHA has slapped Symmetry Turf Install­­ations with two citations for serious safety violations after one of its employees died of heat stroke.

Court imposes anti-harassment policy on San Antonio company

12/03/2012
A federal judge has ordered AA Foun­­dries to take steps to stop workplace racial harassment after the San Antonio manufacturer lost a lawsuit filed by the EEOC. A jury awarded $200,000 to three black employees who accused a plant superintendent of routine racial harassment.

Feds trim $106K in back pay from Midland landscaper

12/03/2012
Seventy current and former landscaping employees will rake in $106,818 following a U.S. Depart­­ment of Labor investigation of their Midland employer’s wage-and-hour practices.

Conduct mandatory training to prevent supervisor harassment

12/03/2012
The U.S. Supreme Court and federal agencies look askance at employers that don’t train employees and supervisors how to prevent, detect and report harassment. As a practical matter, such training is essentially required.

Employee complains to TCHR? OK to end internal grievance

12/03/2012
Many employers have in­­ternal grievance procedures for em­­ployees who feel they have been discriminated against. But what if, while the complaint is pending, the employee files a complaint with the Texas Com­­mis­­sion on Human Rights?

No obligation to create indefinite light-duty job

12/03/2012
You don’t have to create permanent light-duty work for injured workers, as the following case shows.