Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Congress on Cusp of Barring Arbitration for Employee Sexual Harassment Claims

Vincent Jackson
02/10/2022
Arbitration, Sexual Harassment
In response to the #MeToo Movement, Congress is on the cusp of passing bipartisan legislation that would prohibit employers from using forced arbitration to resolve claims of workplace sexual harassment and sexual assault.  Though the final bill has not yet been presented for the President’s signature, drafts of the bill have passed both the House and the Senate.  The ban on mandatory arbitration in employment contracts marks a sea change in how...
read more

EEOC Issues New Guidance on When COVID-19 Qualifies as a Disability

Vincent Jackson
12/15/2021
Agency Activity, COVID-19
On December 14, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updated guidance on when COVID-19 constitutes a disability under Title I of the ADA.  Under the ADA, a person can be an individual with a disability in one of three ways: “Actual” Disability:  a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity (such as walking, talking, seeing, hearing, etc.); “Record of” a Disability: the person has a...
read more

Georgia Judge Issues Nationwide Injunction Halting Implementation of Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate

Vincent Jackson
12/08/2021
COVID-19
On December 7, 2021, a federal judge in Georgia issued a nationwide injunction blocking the implementation of the federal contractor vaccine mandate.  The halting of Executive Order 14042, which requires all contractors and subcontractors performing work on certain federal contracts to ensure that their employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, presents yet another twist in the legal fights over the vaccine mandate. While previous...
read more

Guidance Published for Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate

Vincent Jackson
09/27/2021
COVID-19, Government Contractors
On September 24, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force published guidelines for President Biden’s recently-announced COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors.  Here are the highlights: “Covered contractor employees” of federal contractors must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no later than December 8, 2021. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after they have received the second dose in a two-dose series,...
read more

Federal Judge Dismisses Employees’ Lawsuit Challenging Employer’s Mandatory Vaccination Policy

Vincent Jackson
06/18/2021
COVID-19
In one of the first rulings of its kind, a federal judge upheld a company policy requiring that employees at a Texas hospital be vaccinated against COVID-19.  The lawsuit, brought by 117 employees against Houston Methodist Hospital, bore all the hallmarks of a frivolous case: dubious application of legal doctrines, conspiracy theories, and (of course) Nazi comparisons. It alleged claims for wrongful termination, violations of federal law governing...
read more

Department of Labor Releases Guidance for Extension of COBRA Benefits Under the American Rescue Plan

Vincent Jackson
04/09/2021
Employee Benefits
On April 7, 2021, the Department of Labor released new guidance for the extension of COBRA benefits under the recently passed American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP).  COBRA continuation coverage provides group health plan benefits to individuals who were recently terminated or subject to a reduction in hours that caused a loss of health care coverage.  COBRA generally applies to all private-sector group health plans maintained by employers with at...
read more

Supreme Court Declines To Set New Standard For Workplace Religious Accommodations

Vincent Jackson
04/07/2021
Religious Discrimination
This past Monday, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Small v. Memphis Light, Gas & Water, Docket No. 19-1388, and by doing so batted back a challenge to the longstanding precedent regarding employers’ duties to accommodate religious practices of employees.  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires accommodation of employees’ religious practices whenever doing so would not cause an “undue hardship.”  In 1977, the Supreme...
read more

Scabby the Rat Gets a Reprieve from NLRB

Vincent Jackson
02/10/2021
Labor Law
Anyone who has ever passed by a labor protest is no doubt familiar with Scabby the Rat—a large inflatable balloon deployed by unions protesting an employer or contractor who uses non-union labor.   The rat balloons are usually 12 feet tall (sometimes larger), and are grotesque, featuring large teeth and a scabby stomach.  The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), under former General  Counsel  Peter Robb, had sought to prohibit Scabby from...
read more

D.C. City Council Passes Ban on Non-Competition Agreements

Vincent Jackson
12/23/2020
Trade Secrets & Restictive Covenants
Last week, the D.C. City Council passed one of the most sweeping bans on non-competition agreements in the country.  The bill (B23-0494), which passed 12-0, would prohibit non-compete agreements for nearly all employees working in the District of Columbia, with an exception for certain medical professionals.    Notably, the bill does not merely ban non-compete agreements for subsequent employment; it also bans non-compete agreements for...
read more

The Perils of Common Sense – Judge Permits Age Discrimination Suit to Go to Trial

Vincent Jackson
10/22/2020
Age Discrimination, Virginia Employment Law
A recent case from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division,  demonstrates that employers must always choose their words carefully, especially when they’re about to fire poor-performing employees. In Granet v. Presidio, Inc.,  Civil Action No. 3:19-cv-821, the plaintiff was a 54-year old account manager who alleged that his former employer forced him to resign due to his age.  Presidio countered...
read more
Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.