Business Judgment Rule Supports Best Buy's Firing of Disabled Employee

Every once in a while, I read a case where my first reaction is:  "how does someone like this ever hold a job?"  That was my reaction when I read the Court's April 10, 2015 decision in Sharp v. Best Buy Co., Inc. out of the United States District Court for Western District of Kentucky. In Sharp, the plaintiff was an auto technician who suffered from narcolepsy and cataplexy. Best Buy accommodated his conditions by excusing him from shift work, and...
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College Employee’s ADA and Retaliation Claims Get Past Summary Judgment

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
09/29/2014
Lest any employer need reminding that workplace disability issues (and the ADA/FMLA interplay) are nearly always tricky, a recent decision by Judge Russell proves the point well. In Williams v. Balt. City Cmty. College, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133144 (D. Md. Sept. 23, 2014), the court denied the College’s motion for summary judgment on the plaintiff’s “regarded as” disabled and retaliation claims, while granting the motion on plaintiff’s...
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Maryland Court Rejects Retaliation Claim Based on Frivolous EEOC Charge

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/10/2014
The United States District Court for the District of Maryland held that employees do not engage in protected activity by refusing to comment about the work of a co-worker and/or that a conversation transpired between a supervisor and employees. Kearns v. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., No. ELH-11-1736 (D. Md., May 23, 2014). Michael Kearns alleged that his former employer, Northrup Grumman Systems Corporation, violated Title VII and the ADEA by...
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“But-For This,” “But-For That” -- Multiple “But-For” Causes Possible In Title VII Retaliation Claim

Garrett Wozniak
Garrett Wozniak
12/26/2013
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals delivered Zann Kwan an early Christmas present earlier this month when it concluded that her former employer was not entitled to summary judgment on her retaliation claim.  Zann Kwan v. Andalex Grp. LLC, No. 12-2493 (2d Cir. Dec. 16, 2013).  From April 2007 until September 2008 Zann Kwan worked as the Vice President of Acquisitions for The Andalex Group, a small family-owned real estate management company based...
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Employee Who Was Repeatedly Sniffed by Co-Workers and Fired For Swatting a Fly May Bring Retaliation Claim

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/26/2013
Accusations of coworkers repeatedly “sniffing and hovering.”  An employee terminated allegedly because she slammed a door and “swatted a fly harder than necessary.”  Sounds like a great place to work, doesn’t it?  This is the alleged work environment in a recent lawsuit decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Royal v. CCC&R Tres Arboles, LLC,  No. 12-11022 (5th Cir. Nov. 21, 2013). Tonia Royal worked as...
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Supreme Court Holds That “But-For” Standard Applies In Title VII Retaliation Cases

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
06/25/2013
In one of the biggest employment cases this year, in a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court  held that the mixed-motive theory under employment discrimination laws cannot be used in retaliation claims. Univ. of Texas Sw. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, 2013 U.S. LEXIS 4704 (June 24, 2013).   In Nassar, the Court addressed the federal circuit split that has developed following its 2009 decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Servs. Inc., 557 U.S. 168 (2009). A little...
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10th Circuit Affirms SOX Whistleblower Ruling

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/08/2013
On June 4, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit affirmed a ruling by the United States Department of Labor's Administrative  Review Board and held that Lockheed Martin violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) by constructively discharging an employee after she complained about an executive who allegedly had sexual affairs with soldiers she met through the company's pen-pal program.  Lockheed Martin Corp. v. ARB, 10th Cir...
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Maryland Judge Dismisses Discrimination and Retaliation Claims

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
05/06/2013
On May 1, 2013, Maryland’s newest federal judge, George Levi Russell, III, dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former employee of a kidney dialysis clinic near Baltimore.  In Ezeh v. Bio-Med. Applications of Md., No. 11-3411 (D. Md. 2013), Judge Russell granted summary judgment to the employer and dismissed plaintiff’s claims of retaliation and race and national origin discrimination. The plaintiff, Perpetua Ezeh, is of Nigerian descent and worked...
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No Employer Liability For Sexual Harassment If Employee Doesn’t Complain About Sex-Based Conduct

A federal appeals court recently held that an employer was not liable for sexual harassment to an employee who complained only about harassment, not sex-based harassment.  Medina-Rivera v. MVM Inc., No. 11-2419 (1st Cir. April 10, 2013). In 2008, Estrella Medina-Rivera worked as a part-time detention officer for MVM, Inc., a security company in Puerto Rico.  In October 2008, Medina complained to her supervisor that an unnamed federal agent with...
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Employer’s Consistent Explanation for Discharging Employee Defeats Discrimination Claims

In Anderson v. Discovery Communications, 8:08-cv-02424, 2013 WL 1364345 (4th Cir. Apr. 5, 2013), the Fourth Circuit affirmed a decision from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland granting summary judgment to Discovery and a cadre of individual defendants on claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Montgomery County Human Rights Act (MCHRA), and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Though unremarkable in and of...
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