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Temporary Workers Must Show Up For Work

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/11/2017
Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination
It is no secret that attendance at work is an essential function of  most jobs.  As explained by a recent decision from the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Punt v. Kelly Servs., No. 16-1026 (10th Cir. July 6, 2017), an employee’s failure to just show up can be fatal to failure to accommodate claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The case involved a temporary employee for Kelly Services (Kelly) who was assigned to work at  GE...
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Appellate Court Rules Employee Can Sue City of Alexandria as Joint Employer Under FMLA

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/09/2017
Employment Discrimination, FMLA, Virginia Employment Law
It is no secret that businesses today are increasingly outsourcing human resources functions in an effort to cut costs.  But absent careful planning, the outsourcing employer may still bear legal liability for workplace discrimination issues.  Here’s what the Fourth Circuit had to say about the subject in a case decided this week.  Quintana v. City of Alexandria, et al., No. 16-1630 (4th Cir. 6/6/17). The case arose from the City of...
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Maryland Federal Court Rules Exhaustion of Disability Claim Requires More than Checking a Box

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/06/2017
Employment Discrimination
Maryland employers will welcome a decision last week by a local federal court holding a plaintiff’s checking the box on an EEO charge is not enough to pursue the claim in court.  (Wallace v. Bd. of Educ. of Calvert Ct’y, No. PX 16-3242, 5/31/17). In this case, Plaintiff Wallace was a substitute bus driver for Calvert County Public Schools.  Her complaint alleged that she was forced to take time off for stress and anxiety due to ongoing...
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D.C. Circuit Sticks Fork In Cook’s Retaliation Claims

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/20/2017
Employment Discrimination, Workplace Safety
“Patience is a virtue,” the saying goes.  That principle was put to the test recently in a case before the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit involving a long-tenured hotel cook who was terminated after being given (more than) his fair share of chances over the years.  Johnson v. Interstate Mgmt. Co., LLC, No. 14-7164 (D.C. Cir. Mar. 3, 2017). Robert Johnson worked as a cook at a Washington, D.C. hotel from 1996 until 2011. ...
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7th Circuit Affirms Denial of “Electromagnetic Sensitivity” Discrimination Claim in Not-So-Shocking Decision

Kollman & Saucier
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
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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Seventh Circuit Holds Sexual Orientation Bias in the Workplace is Prohibited Under Federal Law

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/06/2017
Employment Discrimination
This week the Seventh Circuit became the first federal appellate court to hold Title VII protects employees from discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation.  Hivley v. Ivy Tech Comt'y Coll. of Ind., No. 15-1720 (7th Cir. 4/4/17).  In this case, plaintiff Hivley worked as a part-time professor at Ivy Tech Community College located in Indiana.  After being denied hire for several full-time positions, she filed an EEOC charge based...
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Pharmacist Needled Out Of $2.6M Jury Award

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
03/31/2017
Employment Discrimination, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden
A pharmacist with trypanophobia (a fear of needles, yes I had to Google that), worked for Rite Aid Corp. (and its predecessors) for 34 years.  In 2011, Rite Aid made administering immunizations an explicit job requirement for its pharmacists.  The needle-fearing pharmacist submitted medical notes about his trypanophobia which explained his blood pressure would spike, he would get anxious and lightheaded at the sight of a needle, and could faint,...
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Second Circuit Holds Sexual Orientation Not Protected By Title VII

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
03/28/2017
Employment Discrimination, Sexual Orientation
In a case that has been closely watched, in Christiansen v. Omnicorp Grp., Inc., No. 16-749 (2d Cir. March 27, 2017), a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit decided that a gay, HIV-positive employee is not able to pursue a claim of sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII, concluding that Title VII does not protect against gay bias.  The Second Circuit cut to the case and concluded that absent a ruling by the Supreme Court, or a full...
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Employer’s Inconsistent Explanations Permits Claim To Survive Summary Judgment

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
03/15/2017
Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination
A recent decision out of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Caldwell v. KHOU-TV, No. 16-20408 (5th Cir. March 6, 2017), offers an obvious, but important, reminder for employers -- provide consistent reasons for why you make employment decisions.  Be honest.  Be consistent.  Don’t make stuff up.  Otherwise, plaintiff-employees may be able to assail your explanation when and if litigation ensues.  In Caldwell, the plaintiff claimed that he was...
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