The Employment Brief | Employment Law | Kollman & Saucier, P.A.

I’ll Take You Back

Darrell VanDeusen

05/07/2024

For those of you who like country music, many of my recent blogs have skewed in that direction. If you are not a fan of the genre, sorry. It’s just that the lyrics often fit so well when it’s time to write about employment law. This time we’ll look to the Brad Paisley song “I’ll Take You Back” (track four on his 2004 album Time Well Wasted). The lyrics are worth a read even if you don’t want to listen to the song, as there...

Mathew Moldawer

05/02/2024

EEOC

In an earlier post I reported that a federal court dismissed a lawsuit in January alleging that an algorithm-based screening tool illegally discriminates against people who are protected by law. In that case, Mobley v. Workday, the Court granted Mobley leave to amend his complaint. New ammunition has further fueled this case– the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed an amicus brief supporting Mobley. The EEOC’s brief argues...

Mathew Moldawer

05/02/2024

Title VII

One of the biggest challenges employers face is whether a job transfer without a change in salary or position title can be the basis of a claim for discrimination. Courts provided inconsistent rulings, often finding that if salary and position title remain the same, an employee who claims that a transfer is discriminatory must prove that the transfer resulted in “significant harm” to be actionable. Recently, the Supreme Court weighed in,...

Vincent Jackson

04/26/2024

Non-Competes

Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a rule that would adopt a nearly-universal ban on non-compete agreements that restrict workers from switching jobs within an industry. While the rule will not go into effect for 120 days, it has already drawn legal challenges from business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce. The rule is breathtakingly broad in scope. It does not merely outlaw non-competes for low and medium-wage...

Kollman & Saucier

04/22/2024

Pregnancy Discrimination, PWFA, Title VII

On April 19, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its final regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The regulations embrace a broad characterization of the PWFA’s use of the phrase “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.” Ultimately, the regulations cover current, past, and potential pregnancy. The EEOC’s adoption of a broad view does not come as a surprise. The initial proposal...

Kollman & Saucier

04/15/2024

NLRB, Union Activity

In August 2022, the Teamsters Union notified Woodford Reserve Distillery that its employees were organizing. Managers then held meetings with employees to speak about the organizing campaign. By the first week of October 2022, the employer believed that 50-60 percent of the employees had signed union authorization cards, primarily motivated by a desire for increased wages. By October 11, the Company decided to announce a $4 per hour across-the-board...

Darrell VanDeusen

04/04/2024

Negligence, Sex Discrimination

I am an unapologetic Parrothead, having discovered Jimmy Buffett in the mid-1970’s. You may know some or all of “the Big 8” most played Buffett songs, but there’s a deep catalog of work spanning from 1970 until he set sail last Labor Day weekend. Bubbles up, JB. One of his early songs, “Cuban Crime of Passion” (track 5 off 1973’s A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean) never charted. It tells the story of piano player Billy...

Darrell VanDeusen

04/02/2024

Harassment, Title VII

It is said that a good country song must include lyrics about heartbreak, mothers, prison, trains, rain, guns, Jesus, getting drunk, and pick-up trucks. Did you know there’s actually a song about that? “You Never Even Called Me by My Name” (sung by David Allen Coe on his 1975 album Once Upon a Rhyme) was written by Steve Goodman and John Prine, two of my favorite songwriters. It was a Top Ten Billboard Country hit. Goodman put the song...

Vincent Jackson

04/01/2024

NLRB

Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overruled a recent decision of the National Labor Relations Board finding that an employer engaged in unfair labor practices by “surveilling” union activity and issuing disproportionate punishment to a union activist. The case, Stern Produce Company v. NLRB, involved two separate incidents: (1) a driver who was sent a text message from a supervisor advising him that he had to...

Mathew Moldawer

03/22/2024

FLSA Exemptions

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the decisions of two federal district courts and remanded for further proceedings, without providing much guidance on what to do next. Parker v. Battle Creek Pizza, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 5858 (6th Cir. 2024) was poised to guide employers on the reimbursement amount for minimum-wage pizza delivery drivers who purchase “tools” for their job. A federal court in Michigan held the delivery drivers should...

1 2 3 4 5 6 … 129 >

Email Updates

I’ll Take You Back

EEOC Files Amicus Brief in AI discrimination case

Plaintiffs in Discrimination Cases Need Only Show “Some Harm” Rather Than “Significant Harm” to Seek Relief Says Supreme Court

FTC Announces Ban on Worker Non-Competes

EEOC’s Final Pregnant Worker Fairness Act Regulations Cover Abortion

Woodford Reserve Distillery Ordered to Bargain with Union Despite Winning a Representation Election

Just a [workplace] crime of passion, messy and old fashioned.

“You Never Even Called Me by My Name”

D.C. Circuit Overrules NLRB On Worker “Surveillance” Case

Sixth Circuit Provides Little Guidance For Pizza Delivery Drivers FLSA Claim

Email Updates