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Employment Law

Investigating harassment in the #MeToo era

12/07/2017

Tales of sexual harassment from Hollywood to Washington have HR departments everywhere pondering the worst-case scenario: What if someone has been harassing co-workers for years? That ticking time bomb could go off at any time.

Houston union settles EEOC race bias claims for $30,000

12/06/2017

Local 100 of the United Labor Unions, a multi-state service workers’ union, has agreed to settle charges it discriminated against two black organizers when it fired them for allegedly not meeting recruiting goals.

Principal sues Houston schools for race, age discrimination

12/06/2017

A renowned Houston high school principal who was suspended with pay in September has filed a race and age discrimination lawsuit against the Houston Independent School District.

ADA interactive accommodations process not required—if employee isn’t disabled

12/06/2017

Employers are supposed to engage with disabled workers and applicants in the ADA’s interactive accommodations process in order to arrive at reasonable accommodations. But what if the employer refuses—and it turns out the employee wasn’t actually disabled?

Track hours worked … unless you want court to

12/06/2017

If you haven’t kept track of all worker hours, a court will ask employees for their estimates. And if the court thinks that isn’t accurate either, it will come up with its own estimate. That’s what happened in one recent case.

Kingwood, Texas firm digs in heels over unpaid OT, faces suit

12/06/2017

A Houston-area medical staffing firm refused to back down when the Department of Labor accused it of stiffing an employee out of overtime pay and then retaliating against the employee for complaining.

Ring to be nominated to NLRB

12/05/2017

Management-side employment lawyer John Ring is in the final stages of White House vetting to replace National Labor Relations Chair Philip Miscimarra, whose term ends Dec. 16.

DOL proposes new tip-pooling rules to benefit back-of-the-house staff

12/05/2017

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a proposed rule affecting Fair Labor Standards Act tip regulations that would give employers more options for sharing tips among more employees.

Snapshot: Then & now — Is harassment at work a major problem?

12/05/2017

In March 1998, only half of Americans considered workplace sexual harassment a “major” problem. Now 69% do.

A matter of balance: Medical marijuana, the ADA and drug testing

12/04/2017

In Pennsylvania, case law says employers should balance an employee’s privacy interests against the need for random drug testing.