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

EEOC Rules Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation Violates Title VII

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/23/2015

Agency Activity, Employment Discrimination

An employee alleges a claim for discrimination based on sexual orientation but sexual orientation isn’t mentioned under Title VII. Does the employee have a viable Title VII claim? According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) recent opinion in Complainant v. Foxx, E.E.O.C., Appeal No. 0120133080 (7/16/15), the answer is “Yes.” In the view of the EEOC, “allegations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/17/2015

Employer Liability, Joint Employer

In Butler v. Drive Automobile Industries of America, Inc., the Fourth Circuit joined seven (the Second, Third, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh) other federal appellate courts in holding that multiple companies can each be the "employer" of the same employee under Title VII. In Butler, the appellate court concluded that Drive Automotive was the joint employer of a former factory worker who was hired through a temporary staffing agency,...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/16/2015

Agency Activity, Independent Contractors

On July 15, 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL), through its Wage and Hour Division, issued its first Administrator’s Interpretation (AI) of the year, and in more than a year (2015-1). AI 2015-1 focuses on the always complex issue of independent contractor versus employee classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL has not held back, at all. This AI makes clear the DOL has little tolerance for the concept of independent...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/10/2015

Independent Contractors, Wage & Hour

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently established a new test to determine whether an individual should be classified as an intern, and thus not subject to the FLSA and local wage and hour law. Rejecting the test employed by the Department of Labor (which filed an amicus brief with the appellate court), the Second Circuit’s new test is less rigid and seems, at least at first blush, to give more weight to the educational...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/02/2015

Agency Activity, Wage & Hour

On June 30, 2015, the Obama Administration unveiled a long-anticipated proposed rule increasing the threshold amount required to be paid to certain salaried workers before they are exempt from receiving overtime. The current rule is that any salaried worker who earns below $455 a week or $23,660 per year (i.e., less than the poverty line for a family of four) must receive overtime. The proposed rule would more than double that to $50,440 (i.e. close...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

06/30/2015

Business Law, Sexual Harassment

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a female African American travelling phlebotomist’s claims of hostile work environment, constructive discharge, and retaliation for allegedly failing to adequately mitigate sexual and racial harassment by a nursing home patient were properly dismissed. The patient’s conduct was not so severe that it rose to the level of actionable hostile work environment sexual harassment. Likewise, the employee...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

06/26/2015

Disability & Leave, State Law

Beginning October 1, 2016, employers in Montgomery County, Maryland are required to provide paid sick and safe leave to their employees. Earlier this week, the Montgomery County Council unanimously passed paid sick leave legislation, which will enable workers to stay home with pay when they are under the weather or need to care for a family member. The law requires employers to provide each employee with earned sick/safe leave for work performed in...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

06/24/2015

Employment Discrimination, Religious Discrimination

Reasoning that discrimination based on an employer’s perception of an employee’s religion is no different than discrimination because of an employee’s actual religion, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan recently permitted an employee’s perceived religion discrimination claims to proceed to trial. Kallabat v. Michigan Bell Tel. Co., No. 2:2012-cv-15470 (E.D. Mich. June 18, 2015). Basil Kallabat began working...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

06/22/2015

Business Law

Tomorrow we will move out of the house we have lived in for 20 years. Its the place we raised our children, and, for the most part, the only home they have ever known. Times like this make one reflect, and an experience moving out a chair yesterday made me contemplate the impact of government benefits on motivation. Here's how. We have a two year old cat who, when she was little, obsessed with her catnip-filled stuffed mouse. She would chase...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

06/18/2015

Disability & Leave, FMLA

On June 15, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision dismissing FMLA interference and retaliation claims brought by an assistant school principal in Maryland. Adams v. Anne Arundel County Public Schools, No. 14-1608 (4th Cir. 6/15/15). In affirming a grant of summary judgment to the school system, the Fourth Circuit relied upon the fact that the principal was granted three medical leaves of...

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Email Updates

EEOC Rules Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation Violates Title VII

Fourth Circuit Holds Hiring Through Temp Agency Does Not Evade Title VII

New DOL Guidance Makes The Independent Contractor A Rare Breed Indeed

Second Circuit Adopts New Intern Test

Obama Administration Seeks to More Than Double Salary Requirement for Overtime Exemption

Touching in the “Crotch Area” Only A Few Times Doesn’t Create a Hostile Work Environment

Montgomery County Passes Paid Sick Leave Law

Federal Court Permits Perceived Religion Claim To Proceed

Of Mice, Moves, and the Welfare State

Fourth Circuit Denies School Principal's FMLA Retaliation Claim

Email Updates