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

The Impact of the Government Shutdown on Employment Law: Part II

Kollman & Saucier

10/05/2013

As I write this, its 11:00 a.m on a Saturday and a number of my colleagues are hard at work with me in the office. Some of the world is still working, without or without an appropriations bill being passed. As for the feds, here is a brief follow up on the impact of the shutdown as it pertains to employment-related matters: The Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) has determined that it will be “unable to...

Kollman & Saucier

10/02/2013

Agency Activity

As those who recall last federal government shutdown in 1995 can attest, the closing of the federal government has implications for human resources professionals. Government agencies that make and enforce laws governing the workplace have posted information about their operations (or lack thereof) during the shutdown. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission release states that the agency WILL continue to: 1) docket new charges and federal...

Kollman & Saucier

10/01/2013

Disability & Leave, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden

In Feist v. Louisiana, No. 12-31065 (5th Cir. Sept. 16, 2013), the Fifth Circuit concluded that a former employee of the Louisiana Department of Justice (LDOJ) was not required to demonstrate that she needed a designated parking spot in order to perform an essential job function. Pauline Feist, a former assistant attorney general for the LDOJ, sued her former employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), alleging that the LDOJ...

Kollman & Saucier

09/27/2013

Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination

A Tennessee federal district court granted summary judgment to an employee on his disability discrimination claim based on a letter confirming that he was terminated for “medical reasons.” Lovell v. Champion Car Wash, 3:12-00254 (M.D. Tenn. September 3, 2013). This case is the epitome of how an employer’s untrained approach to employment issues can be damaging. Mr. Lovell worked for a car wash company (Champion), and because of his medical...

Kollman & Saucier

09/25/2013

Agency Activity, Wage & Hour

On September 12, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Solicitor M. Patricia Smith issued a letter to the American Bar Association (“ABA”) stating that interns working in private law firms need to be paid in certain circumstances. The ABA specifically inquired into situations in which a law school places a student with a private law firm and acts as an intermediary to monitor the internship’s progress, and in which the law firm provides...

Kollman & Saucier

09/19/2013

Agency Activity, Employment Discrimination, Pregnancy Discrimination, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden

Beginning on October 1, 2013, Maryland employers with 15 or more employees will have to comply with Maryland’s Reasonable Accommodations for Disabilities Due to Pregnancy Act. As previously reported in The Employment Brief, the new law requires employers to explore “all possible means” of providing reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees, and also establishes new notice requirements. However, employers do not have to make an...

Kollman & Saucier

09/16/2013

Agency Activity, Employment Discrimination

A Maryland federal court recently skewered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in its disparate impact lawsuit challenging a nationwide employer’s use of background checks on applicants. EEOC v. Freeman, No. RWT 09cv2573 (D. Md. Aug. 9, 2013). The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted summary judgment in favor of the employer, heavily criticizing the EEOC’s shoddy assemblage of statistical data used in its attempt...

Kollman & Saucier

09/12/2013

Agency Activity, Labor Law

Two appellate courts have decided that the recess appointments Obama made of three NLRB members in January 2012 were made without proper legal authority resulting. therefore, with the NLRB acting without a valid quorum. Indeed, the Supreme Court has agreed to review the first such decision, Noel Canning Division of Noel Corp. v. NLRB, 705 F.3d 4901 (D.C. Cir. 2013), which held that the 2012 appointments were unconstitutional. In NLRB v. Enterprise...

Kollman & Saucier

09/12/2013

Agency Activity, Legal Developments, Same-Sex Marriage

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service issued a joint news release and Revenue Ruling 2013-17, in which the agencies announced that same-sex married couples will be recognized as legally married for federal tax purposes, regardless of where they reside, so long as they were married in any U.S. state or territory, or a foreign country, that legally recognizes same-sex marriages. This ruling implements federal tax aspects of the Supreme...

Kollman & Saucier

09/06/2013

Employee Benefits

On September 5, 2013, the Treasury Department, in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service, issued proposed rules concerning the reporting requirements for insurers and select employers mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Interested parties and the public can submit comments on the proposed regulations through early November. Once the rules have been finalized, voluntary compliance is encouraged through 2014 (during which time...

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The Impact of the Government Shutdown on Employment Law: Part II

How the Government Shutdown Impacts Employment Matters

ADA Does Not Require Reasonable Accommodation To Be Related To Essential Function

Termination Letter Citing Employee’s “Medical Reasons” Was Direct Evidence Of Disability Discrimination

DOL Says Law Firms Need Not Pay Interns Doing Pro Bono Work

Reminder to Maryland Employers: Reasonable Accommodations For Disabilities Due To Pregnancy Act Takes Effect October 1st

Employer Triumphs Over EEOC In Background Check Lawsuit

Fourth Circuit Gives Bad News To NLRB And Union, Again.

The IRS Has Spoken: Legal Same-Sex Marriage Recognized For Federal Tax Purposes

Treasury Department Issues Proposed ACA Reporting Rules

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