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Employment Law

Take extra care when firing after ADA, FMLA

06/10/2019
Firing an employee who is returning from ADA or FMLA leave is a risky proposition. Make absolutely sure you can justify the termination with legitimate business reasons that have nothing to do with missing work, taking leave or requesting accommodations.

Tyler docs violated ADA by quizzing staff about health

06/10/2019
The physicians who own Pulmonary Specialists of Tyler and Sleep Health must have missed the part of their training addressing that most medical of employment laws: the ADA.

New California law mandates women on boards of directors

06/06/2019
Last September, California enacted Senate Bill 826, a pioneering law that requires every publicly held company headquartered in California to have at least one woman on its board of directors. Currently, a quarter of the state’s public companies have no female directors.

Make returning worker sign arbitration agreement again

06/06/2019
If you use an arbitration agreement, and a worker quits only to be rehired later, make sure she signs and dates a fresh copy of the agreement. Otherwise, the earlier resignation will have ended the agreement.

Court: Unsigned arbitration agreement enforceable

06/06/2019
A California appeals court has upheld an arbitration agreement presented to employees as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition that implied their acceptance even if they didn’t sign it.

Sexist supervisor? Keep him away from victims, scrutinize his decisions and actions

06/06/2019
If you hear reports that a supervisor or manager with authority over female employees is making sexist statements, act immediately to put an end to it.

California bill would triple time to file bias claims

06/06/2019
A bill before the California Assembly would expand the amount of time employees have to file harassment or discrimination claims under the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act from the current one year to three years after the last discriminatory act.

Take proactive steps to assert at-will status

06/06/2019
A former employee who contests a termination in court may overcome the at-will presumption by presenting some evidence that there was either a specific written agreement spelling out employment terms or an implied agreement that employment would continue for an indefinite period of time unless there was some good cause for termination.

Before signing settlement, consider other filings

06/06/2019
Sometimes, an employee files several discrimination complaints about incidents that are allegedly related. If you’re thinking about settling one complaint, be aware that other, related claims may remain outstanding.

Pulled job offer: $80K case of pregnancy bias

06/06/2019
Just as you can’t fire an employee because she is pregnant, you can’t refuse to hire an applicant because she is expecting. Both are forms of sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.