Category: Quick Clips

Last month the Seventh Circuit - the most active appellate court interpreting the FMLA - dismissed a claim by an employee who claimed that his supervisor's conduct exacerbated his pre-existing serious health condition.  Breneisen v. Motorola Inc., 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 18301 (7th Cir. Sept. 2, 2011).  This was a case of first impression for the court, but it followed the Sixth Circuit's reasoning in Edgar v. JAC Prods. Inc., 443 F.3d 501 (6th Cir....

On October 17, 2011, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether the Civil Service Reform Act (“CSRA”) is the exclusive remedy for a former federal employee contending that his constitutionally rights were violated.  (Elgin v. Dep't of the Treasury, U.S., No. 11-45, cert. granted 10/17/11).  Four former federal employees, who were employed by the Treasury Department, FDIC and Department of Interior, filed a suit for...

The common law doctrine of "employment at will" permits either an employer or employee to terminate the employment relationship at any time or for any reason.   Maryland courts are reluctant to diminish employers' decision-making discretion, but the a tort claim of "wrongful discharge" has been recognized in limited circumstances.  The seminal case in Maryland is Adler v. Am. Standard Corp., 291 Md. 31 (1981).  In Adler, an employee filed a...

A federal court in New York has found that pro-youth remarks are not enough to establish that an older worker was the victim of age discrimination.   Mickelsen v. Bertelsmann Inc., No. 08-cv-10138 (S.D.N.Y., September 19, 2011). Apparently, someone had commented that startup companies did well because they are “full of young creative people who are determined to turn their ideas into products in the shortest time.”  A year later, a corporate...

In two cases recently instituted by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), two restaurants in Jacksonville, Florida agreed on August 5, 2011, to pay more than $930,000 in back pay and liquidated damages to 30 employees for violations of the FLSA.  The DOL’s investigation revealed that the restaurants failed to pay overtime wages as a result of improperly classifying kitchen employees as exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA.  The DOL...

Courts are reluctant to enforce non-competition agreements because they are restraints on trade and one’s ability to earn a living.  To be enforceable, a non-competition or non-solicitation agreement must be reasonable in geographic scope, time, and reasonably tailored to protect the employer’s legitimate business interests.  A federal court in Nevada recently ruled that Accelerated Care Plus Corp. (ACP), a medical equipment leasing business,...

The Second Circuit has joined five other Circuits in holding that the correct definition of a "materially adverse employment action" in FMLA retaliation cases is the one used by Supreme Court in its 2006 decision in Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White.  The Burlington definition includes employer actions that are likely to dissuade reasonable workers from exercising their rights under anti-discrimination laws.  Millea v....

Affirming dismissal of an FLSA suit against SAIC, the Fourth Circuit has held that a job applicant who alleged the company withdrew a conditional offer of employment upon learning that she had sued a former employer for wage and hour violations cannot pursue an FLSA retaliation claim against the prospective employer because the Act only permits "employees" to file retaliation claims against their current or former employer.  Dellinger v. SAIC, No....

In Mezonos Maven Bakery Inc., 357 N.L.R.B. No 47 (Aug. 9, 2011), a unanimous three-member panel held that the National Labor Relations Act and Supreme Court precedent in Hoffman Plastic Compounds Inc. v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137 (2002) “forecloses us from awarding back pay to undocumented workers” even where the employer was violating the Immigration Reform and Control Act by knowingly employing undocumented workers.  The workers in this case were...

This week, a construction industry employer learned that it was illegal for it to fire two union-represented employees who had told a supervisor “it’s going to get ugly” and that the supervisor “better bring [his] boxing gloves” after the supervisor disciplined a group of employees for exceeding a 15-minute break limit.  The employer terminated the employees for violating its zero tolerance policy against workplace violence.  The National...