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…
In 2013, Lihuan Wang, then a student at Syracuse University and an unpaid intern for Phoenix Sattelite Television, sued Phoenix because her supervisor took her to lunch and to a hotel room where he kissed her by force and grabbed her buttocks. She resisted and, later, Phoenix wouldn’t hire her.…
President Obama issued an executive order last week that would expand the pool of workers eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). You may or may not already be familiar with the overtime portions of the FLSA; in case you aren’t, we will provide you with…
I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. Here is a short link expanding on a new Department of Labor rule that will have a significant impact on labor law in the coming year. As we touched on in an earlier post, the Department of Labor has been…
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…
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…
About a month ago, the 4th Circuit affirmed a decision from the District Court of Maryland in a wage and hour collective action brought against Rite Aid. In the case, a number of pharmacists brought suit alleging that the pharmacy’s policy of allowing for unpaid personal leave only in full-day…
When an employee returns from FMLA leave, he or she is required to be returned to the “same or equivalent position.” What precisely does that mean? Under the FMLA regulations, an equivalent position is one that: “is virtually identical to the employee’s former position in terms of pay, benefits and…
The Department of Labor began to take steps to implement the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor by issuing guidance regarding the eligibility of same-sex couples for FMLA leave. The agency removed references to DOMA in the FMLA and clarified the ability of same-sex couples to take leave…