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

No Employer Liability For Sexual Harassment If Employee Doesn’t Complain About Sex-Based Conduct

Kollman & Saucier

04/12/2013

Employment Discrimination, Retaliation, Sexual Harassment

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...

Kollman & Saucier

04/11/2013

Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination, FMLA, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Retaliation, State Law

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...

Kollman & Saucier

04/10/2013

Disability & Leave

A Pennsylvania newspaper soundly defeated a partially deaf former employee’s claims of gender and disability discrimination in federal court. Mengel v. Reading Eagle Co., No. 11-6151, (E.D. Pa. Mar. 28, 2013) Christine Mengel had worked at Reading Eagle Company since 1999 as a copy editor and page designer, receiving satisfactory performance evaluations between 2001 and 2008. In 2007, Mengel became completely deaf in her left ear and developed...

Kollman & Saucier

03/20/2013

Age Discrimination, Public Sector Employment Law

This past Monday, March 18, 2013, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Madigan v. Levin, an Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) case from the Seventh Circuit. In Madigan, the issue is whether state and local government employees can bring age discrimination claims directly under the Equal Protection Clause through Section 1983. The Seventh Circuit’s opinion conflicts with that of the First, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits, each of...

Kollman & Saucier

03/20/2013

Employment Discrimination, Litigation, Sexual Harassment

Under Title VII, an employee suing for discrimination or retaliation must first file an administrative charge of discrimination with the EEOC or a state or local fair employment practices agency. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that the employer is put on notice of the allegations, and that the administrative agency is given a chance to investigate, before an employee pursues the case in court. Because of this requirement, one issue...

Kollman & Saucier

03/13/2013

Agency Activity, Employment Discrimination

On January 29, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) issued Directive 306, “Complying with Nondiscrimination Provisions: Criminal Record Restrictions and Discrimination Based on Race and National Origin.” Effective upon its issuance, Directive 306 applies to all covered federal contractors and subcontractors, and requires contractors to carefully tailor the use of an applicant’s...

Kollman & Saucier

03/06/2013

Employment Discrimination, Retaliation

The Fourth Circuit recently issued an opinion addressing employment discrimination allegations raised by three former female employees of Virginia Tech University. In Maron v. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, No. 12-1146 (4th Cir. Jan. 31, 2013) (unpublished), the plaintiffs claimed that Virginia Tech violated the Equal Pay Act (EPA) when the University paid female employees less than males employees performing the same work. ...

Kollman & Saucier

02/27/2013

Wage & Hour

On January 14, 2013, a federal district court approved a Chicago police sergeant’s request for conditional certification of an FLSA collective action for unpaid overtime wages. Allen v. Chicago, No. 10-03183 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 14, 2013). The lawsuit alleges that the Chicago Police Department failed to pay police officers overtime pay for time spent working on their city-issued BlackBerry devices after regular work hours. According to the...

Kollman & Saucier

02/26/2013

FMLA

A federal court in Michigan recently dismissed the FMLA claims of an employee fired for misuse of FMLA leave and dishonesty after posting photographs of her vacation on Facebook while on medical leave. Lineberry v. Richards, No. 2: 11-13752 (E.D. Mich. Feb. 5, 2013). Carol Lineberry worked as a registered nurse for Detroit Medical Center (DMC). In January 2011, Lineberry complained of excruciating pain in her back and legs after moving...

Kollman & Saucier

02/21/2013

FMLA

Most employers and human resource professionals know that the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) permits certain employees of covered employers to take unpaid leave for specified family and medical reasons. The FMLA, through its implementing regulations, requires that an employee claiming FMLA provide his or her employer within fifteen days (or longer if the employer so allows) a certificate of health care provider confirming the employee’s...

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No Employer Liability For Sexual Harassment If Employee Doesn’t Complain About Sex-Based Conduct

Employer’s Consistent Explanation for Discharging Employee Defeats Discrimination Claims

Partial Deafness Not A Disability Under The ADAAA

Supreme Court To Decide Age Discrimination Claims For Government Employees

Fourth Circuit Limits Scope of EEOC Charge

New Federal Guidelines for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors in Considering Criminal Records

Former Virginia Tech Employees’ Title VII and Equal Pay Act Claims Remain Viable

Court Grants Conditional Class Certification For Police Officers’ Overtime Claim Based On After Hours Blackberry Use

No FMLA Claim For Employee Who Posted Vacation Photos On Facebook During Leave

Employee Not Entitled To FMLA After Failing To Produce Health Care Provider Certification

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