Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Hurricane Sandy and Some Employment Issues To Consider

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/29/2012
Wage & Hour
With many offices closed today, and more likely to remain and be closed tomorrow, we wanted to remind employers about pay rules in place for weather-related closings. Most exempt employees who are paid on a salary basis are not subject to pay reductions because of a business closure.  Indeed, even if an exempt employee misses a full day of work, an employer may not reduce the employee’s weekly salary.  It is important not to improperly reduce an...
read more

Court Rules Baltimore County Pension Plan Discriminates Based on Age

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/26/2012
Employee Benefits, Employment Discrimination, Public Sector Employment Law
A federal district court has ruled that Baltimore County violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) when it required older employees to contribute more to their pension than younger employees.  EEOC v. Baltimore County, D. Md. No. 07-2500 (10/17/12). The decision, which will most likely be appealed by the County, is the latest ruling in a multi-year lawsuit which has already been before the United States Court of Appeals for the...
read more

What Employers Can Learn from Lance Armstrong

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/23/2012
Business Law
As many of you know, I am an avid cyclist and fan of professional cycling.  To give you some context, this morning I watched a replay of Stage 7 of the 2009 Tour de France while riding my bike inside.  My office is adorned with cycling pictures, including a poster of Lance Armstrong dropping Marco Pantani on the slopes of Daux-Hautacam in the 2000 Tour. My idea of a fun vacation is a week on my touring bike, lugging my camping gear, food and...
read more

New Jersey Employers Have A New Posting Requirement

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/19/2012
Agency Activity, State Law
The New Jersey State Assembly has amended the New Jersey Equal Pay Act to require employers with 50 or more employees to “conspicuously post” a notice of employees’ rights to be free from gender discrimination with respect to wages, compensation, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment.  The new posting requirement is scheduled to take effect November 21, 2012.  The New Jersey Department of Labor, however, still needs to...
read more

Written Comment In Self-Evaluation Form Provides Basis For Retaliation Claim

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/12/2012
Retaliation
In Tasciyan v. Medical Numerics, No. 8:11-cv-01467 (D. Md. Oct. 9, 2012), the federal trial court permitted Talin Tasciyan’s Title VII retaliation claim to proceed to a jury trial, finding that a jury must decide if her comment on a self-evaluation form, that she believed she had not been promoted because of her gender, was the reason for her termination.   The court noted that sufficient evidence of a causal connection existed because only three...
read more

NLRB Strikes Down Hotel Rule Limiting Employees’ Off Duty Access

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/12/2012
Labor Law
September 28, 2012 was a busy day at the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”).  Not only did the Board issue its first Facebook ruling (Karl Knauz Motors, Inc.), it also decided it latest case invalidating an employer rule limiting employee access.  In Marriott International, Inc., 359 NLRB No. 8 (2012), the Board ruled that a hotel rule barring off duty employees from returning to the hotel interior or using its facilities without...
read more

Court Dismisses Employee Claims to Ownership of Linkedin Account

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/10/2012
Litigation, Social Media
Readers of this blog are well aware of the increased role that social media tools are playing in workplace lawsuits. While many of our recent posts have focused on NLRB decisions limiting employer social media policies, a recent federal court decision out of Pennsylvania emphasizes the importance of having a social media policy in place.  In Eagle v. Morgan, No. 2:11-cv-04303-RB (E.D. Pa. 10/4/12), the former president of a financial services...
read more

Employer Policy Prohibiting Social Media Use During Company Time Violates the NLRA

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/03/2012
Labor Law, Social Media
The NLRB keeps at it and tells us, once again, that social media policies are almost never going to pass any smell test.  An administrative law judge for the Board issued another decision that seemingly binds the hands of employers who seek to keep their employee productive and focused on work during work time.  In ECHOSTAR, Inc., No. 27-CA-066726 (ALJ Anderson, Sept. 20, 2012),  the ALJ ruled that EchoStar Technologies’ social media policy...
read more

NLRB Rules Facebook Firing is Legal But Still Strikes Down Employer Policy

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
10/02/2012
Labor Law, Social Media
On September 28, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued the latest decision in its determined effort to define the permissible scope of social media rules in the workplace.  In Karl Knauz Motors, Inc., 358 NLRB No. 164 (2012), the Board ruled that a BMW dealership did  not violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) when it fired a car salesman for photos and comments posted on his Facebook page.  However, the Board...
read more

NLRB Extends Protection to Lying and Using Vulgar Language at Work

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
09/28/2012
Labor Law
On September 19, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) continued its assault on an employer’s right to set and enforce reasonable workplace rules.  This time, the target was a mean-spirited employer who had to gall to fire an employee who scrawled profanities on newsletters left in a break room and then lied to an investigator when asked if he had done it.  Because the conduct occurred in the context of a union decertification...
read more
Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.