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

Supreme Court Okays DOL's FLSA Interpretative Rule Change

Kollman & Saucier

03/11/2015

Agency Activity, Supreme Court Decisions, Wage & Hour

The Supreme Court has confirmed that federal agencies, including the Department of Labor (DOL), are exempted from the Administrative Procedure Act's formal notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements when changing interpretative rules, as explained in its unanimous decision Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Ass'n, No. 13-1041, (U.S. March 9, 2015). With this decision, the Supreme Court overruled the long established doctrine from Paralyzed Veterans of...

Kollman & Saucier

03/05/2015

Agency Activity, FMLA, Same-Sex Marriage

On February 25, 2015, the Department of Labor issued a Final Rule changing the definition of “spouse” under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The Final Rule impacts those individuals who entered into legal same-sex marriages in a state that recognizes same-sex marriage, but now reside in a state that does not. The prior iteration of the Rule defined “spouse” (29 CFR §§ 825.102 and 825.122(b)) based on the residency of the eligible...

Kollman & Saucier

02/27/2015

Business Law

If you were doing what tens of millions of others around the world were doing yesterday, you logged on to the internet, clicked on this link, and then argued with whoever was with you about the color of a dress. That's right -- the color of dress (please click on the link and I promise it will make sense, kind of). Here's how the conversation between me, my wife, and my daughter went: Daughter: "What color is the dress, Dad? Me:...

Kollman & Saucier

02/24/2015

Agency Activity, Employment Discrimination

On February 20, the Fourth Circuit became the second jurisdiction to reject the EEOC’s most recent attempt to expand disparate impact race claims. In EEOC v. Freeman, the Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of an employer in a case involving a challenge by the EEOC to the use of criminal background and credit history checks in the hiring process. The decision marks the second time in less than a year that the EEOC’s tactic has been...

Kollman & Saucier

02/20/2015

Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination

The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee who is a qualified individual with a disability. Employers are not required to provide unreasonable accommodations, such as those that do not enable an employee to perform the essential functions of a job or require the employer to create a new position. The Sixth Circuit recently reiterated this well-established rule in a case...

Kollman & Saucier

02/17/2015

Employment Discrimination

Does Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 cover claims of discrimination based on a perceived protected trait? Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland answered "yes," holding that a plaintiff’s Title VII and Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act claims of discrimination based upon perceived national origin are viable causes of action. Arsham v. Mayor & City Council of Balt. No. 1:14-cv-02158 (D. Md. February...

Kollman & Saucier

02/12/2015

State Law, Wage & Hour

Last month, we wrote about the new District of Columbia Wage Theft Prevention Act, which dramatically changed D.C. wage and hour laws to impose new record keeping obligations and penalties on employers operating in the District. The new law is set to go into effect on February 26, 2015. After posting our article on the law, we received a number of comments from clients concerned about the law's requirement that employers keep time records for...

Kollman & Saucier

02/11/2015

Employment Discrimination

A federal court in Maryland has dismissed claims of transgender discrimination filed by an IRS agent. Hart v. Lew, D. Md. No. 1:12-cv-03482 (February 6, 2015). The male-to-female transgendered agent alleged she was fired because of gender stereotyping bias. The case arose when the agent, Sydney Hart, stopped coming to work in October 2009. Hart alleged she was ridiculed by co-workers and harassed by a supervisor who criticized her choice of...

Clifford Geiger

01/30/2015

Disability & Leave, FMLA

Employers must be careful about treating employees as if the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) applies if, in fact, it does not apply. On January 26, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that Terry Tilley, an employee of the Kalamazoo County Road Commission (the “Commission”), could proceed with his FMLA claims even though he did not meet the FMLA’s definition of an “eligible employee.” Tilley v. Kalamazoo Cnty....

Clifford Geiger

01/29/2015

Disability & Leave

On January 23, 2015, a federal jury New York awarded a former Rite Aid pharmacist Christopher Stevens $2.6 million in damages on a claim he brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the New York State Human Rights Law. Stevens has a fear of needles, which is otherwise known as trypanophobia. Stevens alleged that when receiving and witnessing injections, and observing surgical procedures involving the use of needles, he exhibited...

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Email Updates

Supreme Court Okays DOL's FLSA Interpretative Rule Change

Department of Labor Issues Revision To Definition of Spouse Under FMLA

"Of Course It's White and Gold!

Fourth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of EEOC Background Check Claims

No ADA Claim For Teacher With Fear Of Young Children

“Perceived National Origin” Discrimination Claims Viable Under Maryland And Federal Law

D.C. Amends Wage Theft Prevention Act to Remove Exempt Employee Time Tracking Requirement

Maryland Court Dismisses Transgender Discrimination Claim

Check Your FMLA Policy

Fear of Needles Leads to Jury Verdict for Pharmacist

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