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New York

Appeals court expands free speech protection for employees of government agencies

10/09/2009

Public employees who speak out on matters of public concern are protected from retaliation because their speech is protected by the First Amendment. For some time, courts have held that, if the employee’s motive was not informing the public, but instead securing some other workplace advantage, the speech was not protected. But now the 2nd Circuit has concluded that isn’t the law.

OK to terminate pregnant employee sometimes; the PDA merely requires equal treatment

10/09/2009

Some employees believe the Pregnancy Discrimination Act makes it illegal to discharge a pregnant woman for any reason related to the pregnancy. That’s not quite true. The PDA merely requires employers to treat pregnant women no differently than other employees. That may mean discharge for complications associated with pregnancy—under the right circumstances.

Keep resignation letter, exit interview notes—just in case

10/09/2009

Employees often don’t think about suing until after they have quit their jobs and moved on. Then they claim they had no choice but to quit because working conditions were so dreadful. Beat such allegations by keeping resignation letters and any notes taken during exit interviews. They help prove the resignation was voluntary.

ADA ruling: Coming to work is an essential job function

10/09/2009

A federal trial court has concluded that coming to work is an essential function of one’s job. Therefore, the ADA doesn’t cover disabled employees who can’t meet that basic requirement.

Home health aide who challenged FLSA exemption dies

10/09/2009

Evelyn Coke, the Queens home health care aide who took her fight against U.S. Department of Labor overtime regulations all the way to the Supreme Court, has died at age 74.

Human Rights law now allows fines for employment bias

10/09/2009

New York employers found to have discriminated against employees can be assessed fines up to $50,000 under new terms of the New York Human Rights Law. If a court finds employment discrimination to have been willful, the fines—payable to the state—may be as high as $100,000.

Courts’ common sense means money back for victorious employer

10/09/2009

In two recent decisions, our firm was successful in recovering monetary relief for employers that had either been victimized by employee wrongdoing or unsuccessfully sued by employees. We covered the first case in “Payback time: Employer wanted its money back—and got it!” Now we’ll discuss a case in which an employer recovered substantial court costs because a court applied plain-old common sense when it looked at existing rules.

New health coverage rules for dependent kids start Nov. 8

10/02/2009

A new federal law takes effect Nov. 8 that extends eligibility for group health insurance coverage to some dependent children age 18 or older who are higher-education students.

So long, Brett: Ex-Jet Favre’s ROI among lowest for QBs

09/30/2009

Think your performance evaluations are tough? Try being an NFL quarterback. Bizjournals ranked all 36 NFL quarterbacks who threw at least 160 passes during the 2008 season to see who delivered the most bang for the buck. Last season’s New York Jets QB Brett Favre placed 34th out the 36 signal callers rated.

Rebound? Pay on the rise, but health insurance could lag

09/08/2009

A survey by consulting firm Watson Wyatt indicates more employers are loosening the compensation purse strings, even as employees will probably bear higher health benefits costs. According to the survey conducted in August, 44% of employers plan to reverse pay cuts made during the economic downturn.