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Employment Law

Courts will toss unfair arbitration agreements

02/21/2018

Courts are particularly unlikely to consider an arbitration agreement binding if it appears the employee did not understand what he was signing.

NLRB: Anti-diversity Google engineer wasn’t illegally fired

02/21/2018

A National Labor Relations Board attorney recommended dismissing an unfair labor practices claim filed by a Google engineer who says he was illegally fired for stating that women are biologically unsuited for computer coding.

Guess who else is invoking #MeToo: the EEOC

02/21/2018

The #MeToo social media movement has been wildly successful at shining a spotlight on the sexual harassment women often experience at work. Now the EEOC has begun using #MeToo in press releases announcing sexual harassment litigation.

States take lead on raising overtime salary thresholds

02/21/2018

The Obama-era plan to raise the salary threshold for overtime-exempt employees from $23,660 to $47,476 died in the courts. Now the DOL says it’s looking into a more modest raise in the threshold—somewhere near $33,000. But some states aren’t waiting.

Impartial discipline: The best defense against bias claims

02/20/2018

Treat all employees impartially and you’ll rarely end up on the losing end of a discrimination lawsuit.

No slack for employees who take FMLA, then get caught breaking your rules

02/20/2018

Employees who take FMLA leave are not immune to discipline discovered while they are out on FMLA leave or after they return to work.

Court: GrubHub drivers are contractors

02/16/2018

A federal judge in California has issued a ruling that should delight gig economy businesses.

Graco alone now opposes Minneapolis minimum

02/14/2018

The Minneapolis ordinance requires large employers (those with $500,000 or more in gross annual revenue) to pay $15 per hour by July 1, 2022.

Note 90-day deadline after EEOC right-to-sue letters

02/14/2018

Employees who receive their EEOC right-to-sue letter have just 90 days to file a federal lawsuit. Advice: Note that deadline as soon as you receive your copy.

Requesting religious accommodation isn’t protected, but that doesn’t kill lawsuit

02/14/2018

Employees who engage in so-called protected activity under Title VII cannot be retaliated against for doing so. But the definition of protected activity is narrow.