This article first appeared as an Employment Alert on our firm’s website. News releases echoing the famous mantra from The Wizard of Oz – “lions, and tigers, and bears … Oh my!” – suggested that the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued an army of flying monkeys. Not so. The DOL merely finalized new dollar … Continue Reading
23.5 million Americans aged 12 or older—approximately 10% of the U.S. population—consider themselves in recovery from drug or alcohol abuse problems. In light of these staggering numbers, as well as the ADA’s explicit protections for addicts, litigation related to employee addiction is increasingly common. The following FAQs address legal responsibilities with respect to addicted employees. … Continue Reading
Connectivity is addictive. Managers text and email staff 24/7; workers check their phones incessantly 24/7. How often? Okay, here are the actual numbers from a recent Gallup poll: 11% check it every few minutes; 41% a few times an hour; and 20% of Americans claim once an hour. If you haven’t checked in last 60 … Continue Reading
“First comes love, then comes marriage [or not – no judgment], then comes the baby in the baby carriage” and then – for nursing working mothers – comes expressing milk at the workplace. Nursing employees are currently afforded workplace protections under several major federal laws; plus, many state and local governments have expanded these federal … Continue Reading
President Lincoln signed the False Claims Act (FCA) in response to scoundrels who sold the Union Army “gunpowder” kegs full of sawdust, uniforms sewn with used rags that disintegrated when wet, and boots made of cardboard that fell apart when worn. To incentivize citizens to protect the government, the FCA provided a bounty to individuals … Continue Reading
Sherlock Holmes is hot at the moment: movies, television shows on both sides of the Atlantic, and way too many deerstalker hats and large pipes over Halloween. Kareem Abdul Jabbar has now added a new (and very good) novel to add to Holmesian canon: Mycroft Holmes. Plus, the Holmes-Watson dynamic is a trope played broadly … Continue Reading
… The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, “Why is a raven like a writing-desk?” …“Have you guessed the riddle yet?” the Hatter said, turning to Alice again. “No, I give it up,” Alice replied. “What’s the answer?” “I haven’t the slightest idea,” said the Hatter. “Nor … Continue Reading
Investigations of employment-related claims routinely require employee interviews. Reports of sexual harassment, picket line misconduct, or whistleblowing all trigger such investigative interviews. Conventional wisdom suggests that employers and their counsel should ask the interviewees to maintain what is covered in confidence and even to document that confidentiality commitment in writing. But, developments on multiple fronts … Continue Reading
Charles Dickens and his characters lived in a pre-ADA world. Yet, those struggling with the definition of “disability” under the ADA share the same frustration as Mr. Bumble in Oliver Twist: “‘If the law supposes that,’ said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, ‘the law is a ass — a idiot.’” Under … Continue Reading
Disability discrimination cases seem to be the flavor of the day. Given the flood of disability discrimination cases, how can employers know how much leave is reasonable? And when can an employer safely say, “this leave of absence conversation is over”? Employees, like the fisherman’s wife in the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale, The Fisherman and … Continue Reading
Aldous Huxley wrote in his novel Brave New World that “If one’s different, one’s bound to be lonely.” With increased visibility (Orange is the New Black’s Laverne Cox; Caitlyn Jenner), transgender people are both less different and less lonely. State anti-sex discrimination laws are expanding to include explicit protections for transgender employees. Currently, nineteen states … Continue Reading
Settling Rule 23 opt-out class actions is straightforward: the agreed-upon settlement is presented to the court for preliminary approval of a Rule 23(e) settlement class and — if the settlement is not approved — the parties return to their pre-settlement status: i.e., there is no class. But, following the conventional wisdom on FLSA opt-in rules … Continue Reading
Title VII imposes an obligation to accommodate religion, including “all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, subd. (j). This obligation has drawn renewed attention following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., 575 U.S. ___ (June 1, 2015). … Continue Reading
Tattoos and body piercings have become increasingly prevalent in the U.S. — over 20% of adults are now tattooed. This number only will be increasing because 38% of millennials (born from 1981-1992) have tattoos, approximately half of whom have two or more, while 23% of millennials have body piercings. More of a concern for employers, … Continue Reading
Food allergies are widespread. Anyone who has a child, works at or with a school, or reads extensively knows that the increasing prevalence of food allergies among children is one of today’s biggest medical mysteries, not to mention a huge problem. The number of children with nut allergies has more than quadrupled since 1997, which … Continue Reading
Take your cue from two leading ladies of television – Olivia Pope (Scandal) and Liz Garvey (Babylon). In a world of instantaneous communication and open access to information, Liv and Liz are masters of crisis management. The New York Times recently outlined how electronic court filings (especially in harassment or whistleblower cases) go viral and … Continue Reading
Growing up a Yankee fan, I hated Wade Boggs, the third baseman for the Boston Red Sox. (Never mind for the moment that Boggs later played for the Yankees.) Boggs controlled the tone of the game because he controlled the plate. Pitchers knew that he wouldn’t swing at anything outside of the strike zone. And … Continue Reading
In the world’s best Christmas movie (other than Scrooged, of course), Kris Kringle — sitting in the Santa Claus chair at Macy’s flagship store — sends a mother to the Acme Toy Store on 46th Street to find the toy fire engine her son wanted but Macy’s didn’t carry. Kris says “I follow the toy market … Continue Reading
Is the internet a place of public accommodation: a virtual town hall or a virtual shopping mall or a virtual movie theater? Courts still struggle with that. Physicalist courts say that the ADA requires a physical location. Ouelette v. Viacom, No. cv 10-133-M-DWM-JCL, 2011 WL 1882780 (D. Mont. March 31, 2011) (no ADA claim re … Continue Reading
When a company is acquired in a stock sale, its shareholders are routinely required to sign what is known as a Letter of Transmittal (“LOT”). Standard LOTs include a release of all claims. But, due to a quirk of California employment law, including a release in an LOT may create unintended consequences. In a typical … Continue Reading
Bruce Wayne. Clark Kent. Sir Percy Blakeney. In addition to being dashing literary figures, each of these men share a common trait – each has an alter ego. Donning a cape, the stoic Bruce Wayne becomes the intrepid Batman. The nerdy, spectacled Clark Kent transforms into the swashbuckling Superman. The foppish, self-obsessed Sir Percy Blakeney … Continue Reading
Mistranslation is both innocent and ubiquitous. Mark Twain had fun with the mistranslations of one of his short stories into French. Indeed, literary superstars frequently acknowledge that translations are invariably imperfect. Jorge Luis Borges’ line — “the original is unfaithful to the translation” — exposes that variance with irony. Both the innocence and the inevitability … Continue Reading
Recent headlines from the Silicon Valley suggest that “no-hire” agreements are illegal, immoral, and unsustainable. But, those headlines address blanket restrictions negotiated between competitors. Targeted restrictions between supplier company and customer company are entirely different. The Department of Justice’s Competitive Impact Statement (“DOJ CIS”) in those Silicon Valley cases acknowledges that distinction: “An agreement that … Continue Reading
Obtaining an effective waiver of claims in the context of a reduction in force, an exit incentive, or other termination program is tricky. The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) has numerous requirements that must be followed “just right” in true Goldilocks fashion. Compliance with the OWBPA is crucial because an employee, over the age … Continue Reading
