By now, most employers are aware of a number of “Facebook Firing” cases, in which individuals who were fired for Facebook postings have been reinstated after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found the postings to have been “protected concerted activity” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). However, on May 8, 2013
OFCCP’s New Compensation Directive: The Agency’s Continued Search for Systemic–or Any–Discrimination in Compensation
Originally published at Ogletree Deakins (http://www.ogletreedeakins.com) on April 15, 2013, and written by Leigh Nason and Dara DeHaven. An extended version of this article can be found here.
After a relatively quiet 2012, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) hit the ground running in 2013. In a second major announcement
Gender stereotyping based on a person’s non-conforming behavior violates Title VII.
As the U.S. Supreme Court has stated, Title VII is intended to “strike at the entire spectrum of disparate treatment of men and women resulting from sex stereotyping.” Recently, a federal court in Virginia refused to dismiss the claim of a male employee who said that he was treated differently and subjected to a hostile
Ostracism and petty mistreatments may collectively rise to the level of hostile work environment.
A female plumber on “light duty” in the City of Chicago’s Department of Sewers filed a lawsuit alleging that because she was female, her supervisor assigned menial work to her, prohibited her coworkers from interacting with her, and subjected her to alleged “verbal violence.” While the district court viewed each of those actions individually and
Does partial deafness constitute a disability under the ADAAA? The question remains unanswered.
A federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted summary judgment for a newspaper/employer who had been sued after the lay-off of a female page designer who claimed that she was let go because of her gender and her deafness in one ear. Mengel v. Reading Eagle Company, EDPA, No. 11-6151 (March 28, 2013).
Employer’s judgment about what constitutes an essential job function carries substantial weight.
Is the ability to be licensed to drive a commercial vehicle an “essential function” of a warehouse manager’s position, even though that manager rarely is required to drive? According to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, that answer depends largely upon the job description developed by the employer, and not on the employee’s
Dishonest response on an initial application can come back to haunt an employee.
In a non-precedential opinion, the 3d U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a hospital’s firing of a security guard who had admitted that he was a recovering drug addict. Because that firing was based upon the fact that the employee previously had denied prior drug or alcohol addition/treatment, the court found that the hospital’s
8th Circuit upholds jury’s decision that if employee is prohibited by his doctor from engaging in the essential functions of his job, no accommodation is necessary.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that jury was justified in finding that an employer is not required to engage in an onsite evaluation to interactively create a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee, if a treating physician’s restrictions would prevent that individual from performing those essential functions at all. Hohn v.
Facebook postings showing misuse of FMLA leave can form sufficient legal basis for termination.
Based on the number of “Facebook” decisions from the National Labor Relations Board over the past two years, most employers understand that when employee Facebook postings constitute “protected activity” under the National Labor Relations Act, the postings can be legally protected. However, the NLRA is not the only federal law that can be implicated in
“Reasonable accommodation” may include adjustments to work schedule, even beyond an agreed-upon flex-time schedule.
Employers are aware of the fact that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires them to engage in an interactive process in order to determine whether a disabled individual can be accommodated to assist him or her in performing the essential functions of a job. In determining the essential functions of a position, most employers