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Employment Law

Beware retaliation following OSHA complaint

04/23/2020
The Occupational Safety and Health Act affords great protection to employees who report dangerous working conditions to the authorities. That has become an issue in the coronavirus era—and a potentially significant source of liability for employers who continue to operate as usual.

Don’t let assistive technology affect hiring

04/23/2020
Warn hiring managers not to disregard an applicant because assistive technologies indicate he or she might be disabled. Those systems provide evidence of bias that can be used against you in court.

DOL: No pause in wage-and-hour lawsuits

04/23/2020
Don’t expect a decline in lawsuits during the coronavirus pandemic. Be sure you continue to follow all your usual protocols for responding to EEOC complaints, subpoenas and other legal notices.

Pandemic: Beware backlash after discipline

04/23/2020
Employees at several Amazon facilities have staged walkouts to protest working conditions they fear place them at high risk of contracting the coronavirus. The company’s heavy-handed response to the protests has generated ill-will and bad press.

NLRB: Union elections resume

04/21/2020
National Labor Relations Board regional offices have begun processing and conducting union representation elections following a brief hiatus in late March and early April.

Federal employees get extra age-bias help

04/16/2020
In a surprising 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a federal law, in Justice Samuel Alito’s words, “demands that personnel actions be untainted by any consideration of age.”

Prepare for the coming flood of arbitration

04/16/2020
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about these days! An enterprising corps of lawyers have begun flooding the legal system with arbitration cases, upending a process that was designed to avoid expensive litigation.

Heat still on for employers tolerating racial harassment

04/09/2020
Three cases filed against two employers show that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the EEOC is not slowing down in its efforts to punish employers that don’t take their anti-harassment responsibilities seriously.

EEOC sues over insurance-driven age bias

04/09/2020
For the second time this year, the EEOC has sued an employer for refusing to consider older candidates for specific jobs. In both cases, the employer decided not to hire or retain someone because their auto insurance policies would not cover workers 75 or older.

What you can, can’t ask staff during pandemic

04/09/2020
When workers ask for leave because they can’t or don’t want to come to work, you need to know exactly what you can and cannot ask.