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Employment Law

Employee calling in ‘sick’ doesn’t automatically trigger your FMLA obligations

04/05/2012

Some employees believe all they have to do to invoke FMLA leave protection is to call in, say they’re “sick” and wait for their employer to request medical certification. Wrong! Merely calling in sick doesn’t trigger any employer obligations under the FMLA.

Employ veterans? Understand interplay with the ADA

04/04/2012
Do veterans returning from war with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) qualify as “disabled” under the ADA and, thus, are due accommodations? Questions like that are answered in a new EEOC guidance document.

EEOC offers best practices to prevent caregiver discrimination

04/03/2012
Record numbers of working adults now care for elderly parents. In 2007, the EEOC issued its Employer Best Prac­­tices for Workers with Caregiving Re­­sponsibilities. Best practices fall into three groups: (1) general, (2) recruiting hiring and promotion and (3) employment terms, conditions and privileges.

Court: No arbitration for government retirement plan disputes

04/03/2012

A state appeals court has reversed a lower court ruling and held that the city of Yonkers’ refusal to reimburse new employees for their statutorily required Tier V retirement plan contributions was not subject to arbitration. Our firm—Bond, Schoeneck & King—represented the city of Yonkers in the litigation.

FDNY’s discrimination tab could reach $65M

04/03/2012
A federal judge has called for lawyers to serve as “special masters” to decide how to allocate money for minority job applicants who were unfairly denied jobs with the Fire Department of the City of New York. The DOJ filed suit on behalf of minorities who complained they were not hired because of their race.

Disability harassment costs Buffalo store $70,000

04/03/2012

A Family Video store in Buffalo has agreed to settle a disability discrimination suit filed by a former employee who suffers from depression and social anxiety disorder. He claims store management har­assed him because of his condition and then fired him when he complained.

Salon cuts losses, agrees to pay for pregnancy bias

04/03/2012
Warren Tricomi Salons, with locations on New York’s Upper East Side, will pay $30,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination suit filed by the EEOC on behalf of an assistant who claims the company re­­scinded an offer to promote her and then fired her after her boss learned she was pregnant.

Former ‘Charlie Rose’ intern seeks class-action lawsuit

04/03/2012
Public television shows often operate on a shoestring. According to Lucy Bickerton, the PBS “Charlie Rose” interview show was so cheap, it used interns like her to fill in for actual employees.

Guilty plea may end officer’s discrimination case

04/03/2012
A police officer who betrays the public’s trust by committing a crime may automatically lose his job. And if he pleads guilty to a covered offense, a court has ruled, any complaint he had that the employer treated him unfairly by suspending him will be dismissed.

Extremely small businesses may be exempt from FLSA

04/03/2012
Almost every employer is covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s wage-and-hour provisions unless it’s specifically exempted. But some truly local and isolated entities may not be, depending on the specifics.