The Employment Brief | Employment Law | Kollman & Saucier, P.A.

Catholic Diocese Loses Its First Battle In Ministerial Exception Case

Kollman & Saucier

03/11/2014

As the controversial recent bills that were proposed but ultimately not enacted in Arizona and several other states indicate, there is a passionate debate ongoing between civil rights advocates and the religious freedom movement. Another example of this conflict is the “ministerial exception,” which rests at the intersection between federal employment discrimination laws, on one hand, and the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment on the...

Kollman & Saucier

03/07/2014

Labor Law

In a February 28, 2014 decision, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) found that a South Carolina restaurant did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) when it implemented a rule prohibiting employees from “displaying a negative attitude” when interacting with coworkers and customers. Copper River of Boiling Springs, LLC, 360 N.L.R.B. No. 60 (2014). The Board’s Republican members, Philip A. Miscimarra and Harry...

Kollman & Saucier

03/06/2014

Supreme Court Decisions, Wage & Hour

In January, the Supreme Court affirmed a decision of the Seventh Circuit, which held that steel workers were merely changing clothes when they were “doffing and donning” protective gear and, therefore, that time was not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Sandifer v. U.S. Steel Corp., 2014 U.S. LEXIS 799 (Jan. 27, 2014). Sandifer was discussed in a recent post here at the Employment Brief. Little more than a month...

Kollman & Saucier

03/03/2014

Employment Discrimination

In Andrews v. CBOCS West, Inc., No. 12-3399 (7th Cir. Feb. 14, 2014), the Seventh Circuit addressed an employer’s practice of automatically terminating an employee who did not return to work after taking paid vacation leave. The Court affirmed summary judgment for the employer on the employee’s claims of discrimination and retaliation under Title VII and ADEA, reasoning that the claims failed because the employee did not suffer an adverse...

Kollman & Saucier

02/28/2014

Wage & Hour

This is an issue near and dear to my heart (having just successfully obtained denials of Rule 23 and FLSA Collective Action certification motions ). Successful plaintiffs in FLSA actions are entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. The amount, however, is within the trial court’s discretion. In deciding the amount, the court must calculate the lodestar, or the number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation times a...

Kollman & Saucier

02/28/2014

Labor Law

Resident doctors work long hours caring for sick, vulnerable patients. Eighty hours a week or more is typical. During that time, under the supervision of an attending physician, they have major responsibilities—making medical decisions, treating patients and performing surgeries. The administration of one New York medical school and hospital, however, believed that residency is not a job at all. Rather, the school and hospital argued,...

Kollman & Saucier

02/19/2014

Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination, obesity

The trend on overweight, obese and other weight-afflicted individuals claiming some category of employment discrimination (almost always disability-based) continues to increase. There have been mixed results so far with the EEOC, not surprisingly, doing its part to ensure that the overweight individuals of America are considered disabled by one means or another. Thankfully, some of the courts that have been presented with the chance to dig into...

Kollman & Saucier

02/18/2014

Employment Discrimination, Sexual Harassment

Employers are very familiar with the legal requirement and legal advice to take prompt action to investigate and respond properly to complaints of workplace harassment. In a recent decision issued from the federal district court in Arizona last week, Safeway's prompt and effective handling of a teen-aged cashier's complaint of sexual harassment precluded a liability finding against the supermarket chain. In McCormack v. Safeway Stores, Inc., No....

Kollman & Saucier

02/14/2014

Wage & Hour

As promised in the State of the Union address, on February 12th, President Obama issued an Executive Order raising the minimum wage to $10.10 for federal contractors and sub-contractors. The Executive Order can be found here, and the accompanying fact sheet can be found here. Citing increased morale and productivity, and lower turnover and absenteeism, the Order will apply to all new covered contracts where the solicitation for the contract...

Kollman & Saucier

02/13/2014

Affordable Care Act

On Monday, the Obama administration delayed a significant portion of the employer mandate requirement of the Affordable Care Act. You may recall that employers with more than 50 employees were supposed to offer qualifying health insurance by 2014 or incur fines. At the request of the business community, that requirement was pushed back to 2015. On Monday, the Treasury Department postponed the deadline until 2016 for employers with between 50...

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Email Updates

Catholic Diocese Loses Its First Battle In Ministerial Exception Case

NLRB Rules Its Legal To Outlaw "Negative Attitudes" in the Workplace

Supreme Court Agrees to Decide Whether Employees Must be Paid for Time Spent in Security Screenings

Employee Who Fails to Return from Vacation Has No Claim of Discriminatory Termination

Maryland Court Awards Over $400,000 in Attorneys Fees in FLSA Case

NLRB Rules That Medical Residents Are Employees Eligible to Unionize

Scales (Of Justice) Tip In Favor Of Employer On Overweight Employee's ADA Claims

Prompt Handling Of Sex Harassment Complaint Keeps Safeway Safe

President Obama Increases Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors

ACA's Employer Mandate Delayed For Some Businesses

Email Updates