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Partial Deafness Not A Disability Under The ADAAA

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson
04/10/2013
Disability & Leave
A Pennsylvania newspaper soundly defeated a partially deaf former employee’s claims of gender and disability discrimination in federal court.  Mengel v. Reading Eagle Co., No. 11-6151, (E.D. Pa. Mar. 28, 2013) Christine Mengel had worked at Reading Eagle Company since 1999 as a copy editor and page designer, receiving satisfactory performance evaluations between 2001 and 2008.  In 2007, Mengel became completely deaf in her left ear and developed...
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Supreme Court To Decide Age Discrimination Claims For Government Employees

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson
03/20/2013
Age Discrimination, Public Sector Employment Law
This past Monday, March 18, 2013, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Madigan v. Levin, an Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) case from the Seventh Circuit.  In Madigan, the issue  is whether state and local government employees can bring age discrimination claims directly under the Equal Protection Clause through Section 1983. The Seventh Circuit’s opinion conflicts with that of the First, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits, each of...
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Fourth Circuit Limits Scope of EEOC Charge

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson
03/20/2013
Employment Discrimination, Litigation, Sexual Harassment
Under Title VII, an employee suing for discrimination or retaliation must first file an administrative charge of discrimination with the EEOC or a state or local fair employment practices agency.  The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that the employer is put on notice of the allegations, and that the administrative agency is given a chance to investigate, before an employee pursues the case in court.  Because of this requirement, one issue...
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New Federal Guidelines for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors in Considering Criminal Records

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson
03/13/2013
Agency Activity, Employment Discrimination
On January 29, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) issued Directive 306, “Complying with Nondiscrimination Provisions: Criminal Record Restrictions and Discrimination Based on Race and National Origin.”  Effective upon its issuance, Directive 306 applies to all covered federal contractors and subcontractors, and requires contractors to carefully tailor the use of an applicant’s...
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Former Virginia Tech Employees’ Title VII and Equal Pay Act Claims Remain Viable

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson
03/06/2013
Employment Discrimination, Retaliation
The Fourth Circuit recently issued an opinion addressing employment discrimination allegations raised by three former female employees of Virginia Tech University.  In Maron v. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, No. 12-1146 (4th Cir. Jan. 31, 2013) (unpublished), the plaintiffs claimed that Virginia Tech violated the Equal Pay Act (EPA) when the University paid female employees less than males employees performing the same work. ...
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Court Grants Conditional Class Certification For Police Officers’ Overtime Claim Based On After Hours Blackberry Use

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson
02/27/2013
Wage & Hour
On January 14, 2013, a federal district court approved a Chicago police sergeant’s request for conditional certification of an FLSA collective action for unpaid overtime wages.  Allen v. Chicago, No. 10-03183 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 14, 2013). The lawsuit alleges that the Chicago Police Department failed to pay police officers overtime pay for time spent working on their city-issued BlackBerry devices after regular work hours.  According to the...
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No FMLA Claim For Employee Who Posted Vacation Photos On Facebook During Leave

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson
02/26/2013
FMLA
A federal court in Michigan recently dismissed the FMLA claims of an employee fired for misuse of FMLA leave and dishonesty after posting photographs of her vacation on Facebook while on medical leave.  Lineberry v. Richards, No. 2: 11-13752 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 5, 2013).   Carol Lineberry worked as a registered nurse for Detroit Medical Center (DMC).  In January 2011, Lineberry complained of excruciating pain in her back and legs after moving...
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Employee Not Entitled To FMLA After Failing To Produce Health Care Provider Certification

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson
02/21/2013
FMLA
Most employers and human resource professionals know that the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) permits certain employees of covered employers to take unpaid leave for specified family and medical reasons.  The FMLA, through its implementing regulations, requires that an employee claiming FMLA provide his or her employer within fifteen days (or longer if the employer so allows) a certificate of health care provider confirming the employee’s...
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International USW Ousts Local 9477’s Officials and Seizes Assets

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson
02/19/2013
Labor Law, Union Activity
In a decidedly un-brotherly move, the President of the United Steelworkers International has placed Local 9477, the local union hall representing the steelworkers in Sparrows Point and the surrounding businesses, under an “administratorship,” Baltimore Brew reported yesterday.  According to the report, Local 9477’s officers have resigned or been suspended and last Thursday, Joe Rosel, Jr., president of Local 9477 was escorted from the premises...
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No Preferential Treatment for Pregnant Employees: Fourth Circuit Holds for Employer in Disability and Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson
02/18/2013
Disability & Leave, Pregnancy Discrimination
The Fourth Circuit confirmed a delivery driver barred from working due to a pregnancy-related lifting restriction lost her claims under Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) against UPS.  Young v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., No. 11-2078, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 530 (Jan. 9, 2013). In 2006, UPS employee Peggy Young became pregnant while on leave and was given a twenty-pound lifting restriction.  The ability to...
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