You’ve likely heard by now the story of freshman Louisiana Congressman Vance McAllister (R-La.) kissing one of his staffers. Now, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) is trying to make it so that Representatives and their staffs have to undergo mandatory sexual harassment training. Unlike the rest of the federal government and…
Published right before Thanksgiving, the 2013 fall federal agency regulatory plans help to illustrate what proposed and final rules are on the agenda for the coming months. The regulatory plans and fall agendas highlight agency priorities and goals and give a preview of future developments in federal employment law. At…
The EEOC has filed 12 religious discrimination lawsuits in fiscal year 2013, more than in the previous year, and indicative of the increasing attention being paid to it in recent months. In general, this may be one of the areas of more frequent activity in employment law in the coming…
Our first article this week has an interesting look at FMLA eligibility for an employee who likely didn’t work the minimum number of hours in the prior year. In particular, the question is tricky because the employee is a managerial exempt employee, and the FMLA states that employers have an…
For our lead in this week, the Employment Discrimination Report has another look at how sexual harassment in the workplace can be a problem even when it is not committed by supervisors or co-workers. Basically, an employer is under an obligation to remedy a potential harassment situation if made aware…
In one of last week’s biggest cases, the New York Court of Appeals unanimously voted that under the NYC Human Rights Law indefinite leave for a disabled employee is not a per se unreasonable accommodation and that the employer instead must prove hardship. This holding, although foreseeable based on the…
With no big news this week (other than the never-ending shutdown), here are some interesting articles and links. With FY 2013 ending last month, the Employment Discrimination Report has a statistical look at how the EEOC managed its enforcement efforts during the past 12 months. True to predictions and the…
With the federal government shutdown the big news today, I thought it appropriate to include some information about how the shutdown will impact enforcement and litigation of employment law issues at the federal level. While many entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, will not be affected, a number…
This blog has previously covered the EEOC’s attempt to enforce a Title VII disparate impact theory against an employer utilizing a strict criminal background check. The EEOC had commenced suits against BMW and Family Dollar, and here, lost a case against Freedman Companies. The district court in the Freedman case…
With a slow post-Fourth of July news week and the recent end of the Supreme Court term, I first wanted to touch on an international article that shows the U.S. does not have a monopoly on failing to protect employee’s rights. The European Court of Justice recently ruled that Italy…