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

What’s That Smell? ADA Requires Fragrance Accommodation

Randi Klein Hyatt

08/02/2012

Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination

By Randi Klein HyattAn Ohio county government employee had asthma and a severe chemical sensitivity to certain perfumes and fragrances. In 2008, she began to experience problems breathing at work when working near co-workers wearing Japanese Cherry Blossom perfume. She asked her employer to ask the co-workers to stop wearing fragrances. The county did not and the employee’s symptoms and reactions worsened. In February 2010, she actually had...

Eric Paltell

08/01/2012

Labor Law

Many employers tell employees who participate in investigations into workplace misconduct that they cannot discuss the investigation with co-workers while the investigation is ongoing. The rationale behind such rules is that it protects the integrity of the investigation and prevents witness collusion. Unfortunately, a recent decision from the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) held that such a rule violates the National Labor Relations Act...

Eric Paltell

07/27/2012

Employment Discrimination, Public Sector Employment Law, Sexual Harassment

By Eric Paltell Unlike private sector employees, persons employed by state and local governments have workplace rights conferred upon them by the United States Constitution. A recent court decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that these Constitutional rights allow public sector employees to pursue discrimination claims even if they have not filed claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Henley...

Eric Paltell

07/25/2012

Litigation, Wage & Hour

By Eric Paltell One of the more obscure provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a/k/a “Obamacare”) amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) to require employers to provide break time and a private place for employees to express breast milk for nursing children. Although the amendments did not expressly give employees a right to sue employers who do not comply with the law, a recent federal court decision holds...

Darrell VanDeusen

07/20/2012

Disability & Leave

By Darrell R. VanDeusen Making sure an employee is actually FMLA eligible before telling her she can take FMLA leave seems self-evident. But employers sometimes don’t do that. If the employee relies on the assurance of FMLA leave, the employer should not later take adverse action against the employee for taking leave, even if it discovers the employee had not actually met the FMLA’s eligibility requirements. A Pennsylvania County recently...

Darrell VanDeusen

07/17/2012

Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination

By Darrell R. VanDeusen Jessica Chrysler is a congenitally and profoundly deaf individual who communicates with hearing individuals by writing notes, gesturing, pointing, and miming. She can also type, text message, and use body language. Chrysler was hired to take pictures at a photography store, usually of young children. She also was required to sell photo packages. When working with other employees who could hear, Chrysler could perform just...

Darrell VanDeusen

07/16/2012

Employment Discrimination

By Darrell R. VanDeusen Last year, in Staub v. Proctor Hospital, 131 S. Ct. 1186 (2011), the Supreme Court held that the “cat’s paw” theory of liability could be used in a USERRA case. While the statutory language is different, most commentators expected that it would not be long until the theory was adopted for use under Title VII and other anti-discrimination laws. They were right. In Chattman v. Toho Tenax Am. Inc., 2012 U.S. App....

Darrell VanDeusen

07/07/2012

Labor Law

By Darrell R. VanDeusen In 1980, the Supreme Court held that faculty members at private universities typically cannot organize and form a union under the National Labor Relations Act. NLRB v. Yeshiva University,444 U.S. 672 (1980). Whether this is the view of the Obama NLRB will be vetted in the coming months as interested parties have filed amicus briefs with the Board in Point Park Univ., No. 6-RC-12276, a representation case challenging...

Randi Klein Hyatt

07/06/2012

Employee Benefits, Legislative Developments

By Randi Klein Hyatt The District of Columbia has enacted novel legislation, protecting unemployed individuals from discrimination in the hiring process. The new law prohibits employers and employment agencies from discriminating against potential employees based on their “unemployed” status. This law is the first of its kind to both prohibit employers from considering the employment status of potential employees and provide whistleblower...

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Email Updates

What’s That Smell? ADA Requires Fragrance Accommodation

NLRB Prohibits Employer from Disciplining Employees for Discussing Workplace Investigation

Title VII is Not Exclusive Remedy for Discrimination Claims by Public Employees

New Lactation Law May Provide Basis for Retaliation Claim

Employer Stopped From Claiming No FMLA Eligibility

Court Finds No Accommodation Possible for Deaf Employee, So Employer Wins

“Cat’s Paw” Theory Applied in Title VII Case

Will the NLRB Revisit Yeshiva in Faculty Unionization Effort?

“Unemployed” is the New Protected Status, at Least in D.C.

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