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7th Circuit Affirms Denial of “Electromagnetic Sensitivity” Discrimination Claim in Not-So-Shocking Decision

Kollman & Saucier
04/14/2017
Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination
Earlier this week,  a new season of the TV drama, Better Call Saul premiered, and with it came the return of the character, Charles “Chuck” McGill.  Chuck, a brilliant lawyer and named partner at his esteemed law firm, suffers from “electromagnetic hypersensitivity” – which causes him to confine himself to his home without electricity and surrounded by endless sheets of aluminum, and causes others to question his mental...
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Every Dog Has Its Day (In Court): Teacher May Go to Trial Over School’s Denial of Chihuahua at Work

Kollman & Saucier
04/11/2017
Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination
In a recent decision out of South Carolina, a federal judge ruled that a teacher may proceed to trial on her disability discrimination claim against her school district for declining to allow her Chihuahua to accompany her at work in the classroom.  Clark v. Sch. Dist. Five of Lexington & Richland Ctys., No. 3:15-cv-2664-CMC-PJG, 2017 BL 100456 (D.S.C. Mar. 29, 2017). Under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), employers have a duty...
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Trump Nominates Acosta to Head Department of Labor

Kollman & Saucier
02/17/2017
Agency Activity
As readers of this blog may be aware, in yesterday's post, I called attention to the fact that there was no replacement pick lined up for the Secretary of Labor.  Less than twenty-four hours after Andrew Puzder’s decision to withdraw his nomination, President Trump selected R. Alexander “Alex” Acosta to head the DOL.  If confirmed, Acosta would be the first Hispanic member of the current Cabinet.  (For anyone wondering, Alex Acosta is not...
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Puzder Withdraws From Consideration For Secretary Of Labor

Kollman & Saucier
02/16/2017
Agency Activity, Labor Law, Political Appointments
Two months ago, nearly to the day, I wrote about Andrew Puzder’s nomination as Secretary of Labor in the Trump administration.  After having his confirmation hearings before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee pushed back four times, and with hearings finally set for today, Puzder withdrew from consideration yesterday afternoon. While supporters of the nomination touted Puzder’s business record as the owner of CKE...
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EEOC Extends Public Input Period on Draft Workplace Harassment Guidelines

Kollman & Saucier
02/09/2017
Agency Activity
On February 3, the EEOC extended the public input period on its draft harassment enforcement guidance for an additional 40 days.  The EEOC released its draft harassment enforcement guidance for public input initially on January 10.  Following a 2016 task force study, the EEOC concluded that harassment in the workplace remains a serious problem, reporting in the document that in 2015, nearly one third of approximately 90,000 charges the EEOC...
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Maryland Legislators Considering Bills to Restrict Pre-Employment Salary Inquiries

Kollman & Saucier
02/06/2017
Legislative Developments, State Law
In January, Maryland lawmakers proposed H.B. 398 and S.B. 404 to amend Maryland’s Equal Pay Act.  The Act, codified at Md. Code Ann., Lab. & Emp. § 3-301 et seq., generally prohibits discrimination in pay based on sex or gender identity for employees who work in the same establishment and perform similar jobs or work on the same operation, in the same business, or of the same type.  Under § 3-304.1 of the Act, employers are...
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And You knew it was Porn, How?

Kollman & Saucier
12/29/2016
Religious Discrimination
Religious workplace accommodations are most times not so difficult to accomplish.  An employee needs a quiet place to pray at work.  No problem.  Another worker wants to change his work day by one hour on Friday during the winter months so he can make it home by sun down.  That’s doable.  The rule under Title VII is that an employer must make a reasonable accommodation to permit an employee to observe the tenets of his or her religious...
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Harassment Doesn’t Come Cheap at COSTCO

Kollman & Saucier
12/29/2016
Sexual Harassment
There were some shocking revelations during the recent campaign cycle suggesting that our President-elect may not have clearly understood the difference between “appropriate’ and “inappropriate” behavior toward women.  Putting aside that oddity, in the decades since the Supreme Court first recognized sexual harassment as a cause of action under Title VII in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986), there has been a heightened...
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“Reverse” Race Discrimination is a Thing. “Racism” Discrimination is Not.

Kollman & Saucier
12/16/2016
Employment Discrimination
While driving through the frigid Baltimore weather this morning, the classic “White Christmas” played on the radio.  Though the ditty is undoubtedly about the singer’s wish to have snow on Christmas Day – and not an expression of racial preference – it got me thinking about the contours of discrimination claims involving white plaintiffs.  Given the heightened sensitivities on the issue on both sides of the political aisle at the moment,...
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Puzder Nomination Likely Signals New Frontier for Employers

Kollman & Saucier
12/15/2016
Agency Activity
Toward the end of last week, President-elect Trump nominated Andrew Puzder, the longtime President and CEO of the company behind Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants, to be his Secretary of Labor.  With Mr. Puzder expected to be confirmed next month, a review of his record suggests that the Labor Department will take a decidedly pro-employer turn in the incoming administration.  (Meanwhile, outgoing Labor Secretary Tom Perez is rumored to be...
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