Category: Appeal
Can the Gravity of the Employer’s Reasons for Termination Outweigh the Employee’s Evidence of Retaliation?
As employment lawyers we have seen some pretty awful examples of behavior in the workplace. If we are involved, we are usually helping our clients weigh the risk of litigation against the need to remove an employee from the company. When we consult with people we usually ask about...
Worked to Death in the Keystone State
While we often remind employers that complaints about on-the-job stress could be a reportable event to a workers' compensation carrier, we do not often warn employers not to work their employees "too hard" or "to death." In this case, however, that was exactly the question at issue—did Lower Bucks...
AT&T’s “Prison” Break: “Inmate” Employees Lose NLRB Appeal
While many of us feel like prisoners to our cell phones (not to be confused with prisons you can buy for your cell phone or companies that appear to specialize in inmate cell phone usage), what none of us want are prisoners working on our cell phones (or landlines...
Sixth Circuit’s Panel Decision Isn’t Built Ford Tough
Earlier this month, the Sixth Circuit issued an en banc decision in the EEOC v. Ford Motor Co. matter concerning the ADA and telecommuting; finding that telecommuting up to four days a week was not a reasonable accommodation. We have been following the opinion both initially and when the...
Nine Months Later Supreme Court "Delivers"
Yesterday the Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated opinion on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in Young v. UPS vacating the Fourth Circuit's (and District Court's) grant of summary judgment in favor of the employer, UPS. We've previously discussed the background of the case here and here , but for our...
Who Signed that Doctor's Note?
The 8th Circuit recently held that the FLSA's "continuing treatment" requirement means more than just walking into a clinic and leaving with a prescription. In Johnson v. Wheeling Mach, Prods. (8th Cir. No. 13-3786 Feb. 20, 2015) the employer terminated the Plaintiff after violations of the company attendance policy...
Fourth Circuit Affirm’s Exclusion of EEOC’s “Cherry-Picked” Data in Background Check Suit
Approximately 18 months ago we discussed the United States District Court for the District of Maryland's ruling that the EEOC had failed to show that an event-planning company's use of criminal background checks, as well as credit checks, resulted in a disparate impact against male and black applicants. On...
Balancing Religious Rights and Fashion: The High Court Debates Abercrombie’s Look Policy
Yesterday the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., No. 14-86, a case previously discussed here , which seeks guidance from the Court as to whether job applicants must provide direct, explicit notice of their religious practices before an employer's accommodation...