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Employment Law

Got a hugger on your hands? He spells trouble

08/21/2012
Having a good sexual harassment policy in place doesn’t mean much if your supervisors ignore it. Take, for example, someone who is what we might call “touchy feely.”

Record number of federal wage-and-hour lawsuits filed in FY12

08/20/2012
A record number of federal wage-and-hour lawsuits were filed in FY12. The most common cases reaching the courts these days concern employee misclassification, off-the-clock work and miscalculation of overtime pay.

How to make medical inquiries the legally safe way

08/15/2012
Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act is like walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls, only without a tether. If you fall off, you end up getting whisked away by lawsuits and drowning in litigation. That’s especially true when it comes to the ADA’s rules on medical inquiries about employees.

OSHA sanctions SeaWorld after orca trainer death

08/14/2012
OSHA has ordered Orlando’s SeaWorld marine park to change the ways in which trainers and orcas interact following the death of orca trainer Dawn Brancheau.

DOL: Miami’s Barton G stiffed tipped servers

08/14/2012
The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered Barton G, the company that owns three renowned Miami fine-dining restaurants, to pay $28,000 to low-wage workers who did not receive minimum wage.

SunTrust sued after harassment allegations surface in Sarasota

08/14/2012
SunTrust faces a federal sexual harassment lawsuit after three women who worked at the bank’s Sarasota Gulf Gate branch accused a manager of inappropriate touching and making lewd and unwelcome comments about their anatomy, sex lives and dating habits.

Subway can’t make workers suffer for ‘art’

08/14/2012
A Tampa-area Subway franchisee will pay $7,536 in back wages plus $3,768 in liquidated damages following a ruling by a federal judge that workers should have been paid for the time they spent taking a required “Sandwich Artist Certification” course.

Normal pregnancy isn’t an ADA-covered disability

08/14/2012
Employees undergoing normal pregnancies don’t have an ADA claim.

Win lawsuits the easy way: Always document discipline

08/14/2012
Smart employers have policies that require supervisors to document all discipline. That documentation can come in handy if a discharged employee decides to sue. The fact is, employers usually win lawsuits if they show they had a legitimate reason for an employment decision.

Consider ADA–not just the FMLA–when employee experiences difficult pregnancy

08/14/2012

Most pregnancies proceed normally, with little or no real trouble for the mother. However, that’s not always the case. When things go wrong, the mother-to-be may be entitled to reasonable accommodations under the ADA. That’s true even if she hasn’t worked for her employer long enough to be eligible for FMLA leave.