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

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/06/2012
Employee Benefits, Legislative Developments
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 protections for current...
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Maryland Expands Employee Rights In Connection with Jury Service

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/06/2012
Legislative Developments
Maryland employers are not permitted to require an employee to use accrued time off when appearing in response to a jury summons. Employers are also not permitted to take (or threaten to take) an adverse employment action against an employee who fulfills his or her civic duty. This past session, the General Assembly has added to the list of what an employer cannot do vis-à-vis an employee involved in jury duty. Effective October 1, 2012, an employer...
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UAW Is Alright, Jack

Peter Saucier
Peter Saucier
07/01/2012
Labor Law
By Peter S. Saucier General Motors operated a plant in Moraine, Ohio, where it inherited the International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE) as part of a conversion from a Frigidaire plant to a truck manufacturer in 1981. Through the automobile crisis of 2007-08, the IUE worked with GM and cooperated with every plan, well before the United Auto Workers (UAW) ever did. Still, the Moraine plant suspended operations. As GM used tax recovery money to...
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The Supreme Court Upholds “Obamacare”

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/29/2012
Employee Benefits
By Eric Paltell On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court upheld “Obamacare” (officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010). National Federation of Independent Business et al. v. Sebelius, No. 11-393 (June 28, 2012). In a 5 to 4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the law is constitutional as an exercise of Congress’ power to tax, notwithstanding the fact that it was an impermissible exercise of...
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The Supreme Court Upholds “Obamacare”

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/28/2012
Employee Benefits, Legal Developments
On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court upheld “Obamacare” (officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010).  National Federation of Independent Business et al. v. Sebelius, No. 11-393 (June 28, 2012).   In a 5 to 4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the law is constitutional as an exercise of Congress’ power to tax, notwithstanding the fact that it was an impermissible exercise of Congressional Power...
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Maryland Bans Employer Access To Employee Social Media

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/26/2012
Social Media
By Clifford B. Geiger Maryland became the first state to pass a law prohibiting employers from asking job applicants and employees for their usernames and passwords to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  This move comes on the heels of an Associated Press investigation that detailed how many employers, including the  Maryland Department of Corrections, were asking job candidates for access to social media accounts. The law...
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Due Process Claims In The Fourth Circuit

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/26/2012
Quick Clips
The Fourth Circuit recently reiterated the standards by which constitutional due process claims are to be evaluated in the context of a governmental employee’s demotion. Hall v. City of Newport News, et al. (No. 10-1653, March 14, 2012). The facts in Hall are fairly straightforward. Hall, a police officer with the city of Newport News, was fired in November 2006 after the Chief of Police sustained four disciplinary charges against him. Hall...
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Private Attorney Retained By City Entitled To Qualified Immunity

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/23/2012
Quick Clips
The Supreme Court recently ruled that a private attorney retained by a local government to conduct an employee investigation was entitled to the same immunity available to government employees.  The decision ensures that private individuals retained by governmental units need not worry - in most cases - about being sued in their individual capacities. Filarsky, a private attorney, was retained by the City of Rialto to investigate a city...
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Voting For African-American Candidate Is Not Protected Status Under Title VII,

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/02/2012
Quick Clips
A federal court in Nevada recently rejected a race discrimination claim based upon allegations that the plaintiff was fired after voting for African-American presidential candidate Barack Obama.  Whitfield v. Trade Show Servs. Ltd., Civil Action No.:  2:10-CV-00905-LRH-VCF (D. Nev. Mar. 1, 2012).  William Whitfield started working as an account manager for security firm Trade Show Services in September 2008.  On Election Day, November 4, 2008,...
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Supreme Court Holds No Waiver of Sovereign Immunity for FMLA’s Self-Care Provision

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
03/21/2012
Quick Clips
In Coleman v. Maryland Court of Appeals, No. 10-1016 (decided March 20, 2012), the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision has decided that - unlike the family leave provisions of the FMLA - Congress did not adequately abrogate the States’s sovereign immunity for the FMLA’s self-care provisions. In so doing, the court affirmed the Fourth Circuit, 626 F.3d 187 (4th Cir. 2010), and agreed with the five other appellate courts that had held the same...
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