Under Banner Decoration

View Recent Blog Posts in Labor and Employment Law

  • New OSHA Memorandum Clarifies That May 2016 Rule Does Not Prohibit Post-Incident Drug Testing By Scott Huffstetler On May 12, 2016, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published a rule that required a “reasonable procedure” for employees to report work-related injuries and illnesses and prohibited retaliation against employees who report such injuries or illnesses.  The regulations defined an unreasonable procedure as one that deterred or discouraged a... Continue Reading... ....
  • Cell Phone Reward and Risk By James R. “Sonny” Chastain, Jr. In a recent Supreme Court decision involving the Fourth Amendment, Justice Roberts noted that there are 396 million cell phones accounts in the United States for a nation of only 326 million people.  The cell phone provides numerous functions including access to contacts, data, information and the internet.  Some... Continue Reading... ....
  • EEOC Sues United Airlines for Sexual Harassment Based on Employee “Revenge Porn” By Erin L. Kilgore Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed a lawsuit against United Airlines, Inc. and alleged that United violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which prohibits employment discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment) by subjecting a female flight attendant to a hostile work environment. According... Continue Reading... ....
  • IRS Continues to Ramp Up Efforts to Collect ACA Penalties from Non-Compliant Employers By Brian R. Carnie For those who think the chance of being assessed penalties for non-compliance with the Affordable Care Act are slim to none, think again.  The IRS’ efforts to enforce the ACA’s employer mandate are alive and kicking.  Since late November 2017, the IRS has been sending out proposed penalty notices to companies... Continue Reading... ....
  • Supreme Court’s Epic Systems Decision an Opportunity for Employers to Revisit the Use of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements By David M. Whitaker In May the United States Supreme Court issued a long-awaited decision in a trio of cases that concerned whether employers can lawfully use mandatory arbitration agreements containing provisions that preclude employees from pursuing employment claims on a class action basis – and instead require them to pursue their claims in an... Continue Reading... ....
  • Dads Have Rights, Too – Estée Lauder Companies will Pay $1.1 Million to Settle Class Sex Discrimination Lawsuit Filed by the EEOC By Erin L. Kilgore On July 17, 2018, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced that Estée Lauder Companies will pay $1,100,000 and provide other relief to settle a class sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. In 2017, the EEOC filed suit against Estée Lauder in federal court in Pennsylvania.  The EEOC alleged that... Continue Reading... ....
  • EEOC Continues to Target Americans with Disabilities Act Return to Work Issues By David M. Whitaker Employer compliance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been among the EEOC’s top enforcement priorities under the Trump Administration. And a string of recent enforcement actions brought by the EEOC makes clear that the Agency will continue to be aggressive with respect to how employers manage... Continue Reading... ....
  • Paid Federal Family Leave Coming? By A. Edward Hardin, Jr. Bloomberg Law and the Tampa Bay Times reported that Florida Senator Marco Rubio announced the he would soon release proposed federal legislation creating paid family leave.  No details regarding the proposed legislation were released.  The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (or as its commonly known – the FMLA)... Continue Reading... ....
  • The NLRB’s Fluctuating Joint Employer Standard   By Chelsea Gomez Caswell In recent years, the National Labor Relations Board’s joint employer standard has been in a state of flux, making it hard (if not impossible) for employers to feel like they can get a handle on this important standard and plan/organize/prepare accordingly. This week, we have again seen movement from the... Continue Reading... ....
  • Overtime Violations Can Be Costly By A. Edward Hardin, Jr. A recent story from New Orleans demonstrates that overtime violations can be costly.  In the case of a New Orleans bakery that paid employees for overtime at their straight time rate and paid some workers in cash, the issue cost the employer over $125,000 in back wages alone.  Pursuant to... Continue Reading... ....