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New York

Starbucks to pay $38.9 million for NYC labor violations

12/08/2025

In a case that illustrates how much even minor wage-and-hour violations can rack up huge bills, Starbucks cafés in New York City will pay over $38.9 million to workers shorted on pay or otherwise harmed by poor wage-and-hour practices.

Supervisor authorized religious accommodation? Good luck making changes

12/01/2025

If you haven’t required supervisors to get HR involved in the approval process, you should. A supervisor’s informal accommodation can backfire otherwise, making it very hard to revoke the accommodation. That’s what happened in one recently filed lawsuit.

NYC joins cities expanding paid and unpaid leave

11/17/2025

Continuing a recent trend among cities and states, the New York City Council amended its Earned Safe and Sick Time Act in late October to provide workers with new time-off benefits. This includes 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time for eligible employees for an expanded number of reasons.

No, you can’t deny accommodation over aesthetics

06/30/2025

Can a perceived customer preference for non-disabled front-of-house workers make being able to stand and walk without a limp an essential function of the job? One employer found out when it ended up paying $100,000 for turning down a request for a stool.

Disparate-impact discrimination about-face doesn’t mean it’s gone

06/09/2025

Disparate-impact discrimination is a legal theory that holds that an entity may be discriminating unlawfully even though it has neutral rules if those rules have a disparate impact on a protected class. It is unintentional discrimination.

Be prepared to offer non-traditional ADA accommodations

04/28/2025

We usually think of ADA accommodations as those that allow employees to perform the essential functions of their jobs. Other forms of ADA accommodation don’t directly affect essential job functions. Instead, they help employees manage their disabilities.

Laying off teleworkers? You may have to issue multiple WARN notices

04/07/2025

You may have to comply with state layoff notification laws, often called mini-WARN Acts. And notification requirements might be different in the state where you are based and in the state or states where remote employees work.

Court rejects telework accommodation for supervisor

03/13/2025

A federal trial court has rejected an ADA telework claim for a worker supervising subordinates.

Disabled remote worker? Think twice before demanding return to office

02/24/2025

Recently, many employers (and the federal government) have ordered most employees to return to their offices. Be careful about ordering disabled employees to do so. The EEOC just sued an employer that insisted on requiring everyone to come back to the office, despite some having disabilities.

Obey state & local wage-and-hour laws in addition to the federal FLSA

02/10/2025

Many states and municipalities have wage-and-hour laws that go beyond the mandates of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA sets the floor for wage-and-hour rules, but states and cities are free to set standards that are more generous to employees.