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NLRB Strikes Down Hospital Rule Against Workplace "Negativity"

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/03/2014
Agency Activity, Labor Law, Social Media
I remember my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Wilbourne, telling us a very important rule: "if you don't have anything nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all."  Well, its a good thing the current NLRB was not around back then, because it looks like they would have had a problem with that rule. In Hill and Dales General Hospital, 360 NLRB No. 70 (April 1, 2014), a hospital decided to change its culture, which was plagued by "back-biting and...
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NLRB Signals What's On Its Agenda

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/01/2014
Agency Activity, Labor Law
Each year the General Counsel to the National Labor Relations Board meets with labor attorneys at the American Bar Association's Midwinter meeting of the Labor and Employment Section. In this meeting, the General Counsel answers questions about the  Board's case handling processes and priorities. On March 26, 2014, the NLRB released a memorandum summarizing the information provided by the General Counsel in this year's meeting.  For those of you...
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Breaking News - Gender Identity Protection Likely in Maryland

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
03/29/2014
Legislative Developments, State Law
On March 27, the Maryland House of Delegates, 82-57, passed a bill banning discrimination on the basis of gender identity. The same bill passed the state Senate earlier this month, 32-15. Governor O’Malley has stated he will sign it into law. Once signed, it is likely the law will take effect October 1, 2014. Maryland will join 17 other states and D.C. in adding Gender Identity as a protected class to anti-discrimination laws. Senate Bill 212 is...
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Supreme Court Hears ACA Contraceptive Mandate Cases

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
03/26/2014
Affordable Care Act, Supreme Court Decisions
On March 25, the Supreme Court heard oral argument on the validity of the women’s preventive services mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in two companion cases, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 2013 U.S. LEXIS 8418, granting cert. from 723 F.3d 1114 (10th Cir. 2013), and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, 2013 U.S. LEXIS 8419 granting cert. from 724 F.3d 377 (3d Cir. 2013). Also known as the “contraception mandate,”...
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Goooo Team.... er, Union?

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
03/26/2014
Agency Activity, Labor Law
Forget March Madness baby.  Here’s where things get interesting. The Chicago Region of the NLRB has announced its decision that Northwestern University football players are “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act, and that they can vote to unionize.   Northwestern University, 13-R-121359 (March 26, 2014).   The University has indicated its intent to appeal the decision to the full NLRB in Washington. By way of background, a...
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FMLA Jury Verdict Overturned by Appellate Court

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
03/25/2014
FMLA
Employers often cringe when they think about taking a case to a jury.   Even if the facts are good for the company, juries are notoriously unpredictable and sometimes follow sympathies rather than legal reasoning. That, of course, is one reason why appellate review exists. A recent decision from the Eleventh Circuit provides a case study of the issue in the context of a company executive’s claim of a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) violation...
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Gate of Heaven Closes Out Discrimination Claim By Raising Ministerial Exemption

Clifford Geiger
Clifford Geiger
03/22/2014
Employment Discrimination, Religious Discrimination
Vickie Fisher was employed as the Co-Director of Gate of Heaven Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery owned and operated by Archdiocese of Cincinnati.  In fall 2010, a cemetery employee complained to the Archdiocese that Fisher and her compatriot were part of a scheme to sell damaged grave markers for scrap metal and distribute the cash proceeds to Gate of Heaven employees.  It was also alleged Fisher was using profanity in her dealings with employees. ...
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Court Rules That Allstate Left Its Agents in Good Hands

Clifford Geiger
Clifford Geiger
03/18/2014
Age Discrimination, Agency Activity
In 1999, Allstate Insurance Company fired all of its employee agents and offered them four alternatives:  (1) convert to an independent contractor status and continue working as an exclusive agent; (2) convert to independent contractor status and sell the book of business they had developed; (3) receive an enhanced severance equal to one year’s pay; or (4) receive a basic severance of up to thirteen weeks of pay.  The first three options were...
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EEOC Issues New Guidance On Religious Dress And Grooming Standards

Clifford Geiger
Clifford Geiger
03/14/2014
Agency Activity, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Religious Discrimination
The EEOC recently published new technical assistance explaining its view of how federal employment discrimination law, specifically Title VII, applies to religious dress and grooming standards.  Employers may encounter many types of religious dress and grooming practices according to the EEOC, including:  (a) wearing religious clothing or articles (e.g., a Muslim hijab, a Sikh turban, or a Christian cross); (b) observing a prohibition on wearing...
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Court Rejects Hotel Room Discrimination Claim Without Reservations

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
03/14/2014
Employment Discrimination, Religious Discrimination
Business trips are a fact of life for many employees.  Reserving hotel rooms for these trips is commonplace: either the employee or a company representative contacts the hotel, and the hotel then arranges a room for that guest based on its current availability.  In spite of this, a disgruntled individual recently tried to sue his former company based on little more than the room he was assigned during one such trip in Rahman v. Crystal Equation,...
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