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Employment Law

Restaurant fires pregnant waitress for baby’s safety

11/03/2014
The EEOC has sued Arthur’s Res­tau­rant and Bar in Addison for pregnancy discrimination after a waitress who was expecting a baby was allegedly fired when she was “beginning to show.”

You may be joint employer despite EEOC filing

11/03/2014
When employees file EEOC charges, they are supposed to name all potential defendants and explain what they allegedly did wrong. But sometimes it’s hard to figure out corporate relationships—for example, a joint employer relationship involving a corporate entity and an individually owned franchise.

Frustration about disability won’t cost a lawsuit

11/03/2014
Sometimes, the tension between sympathy for a disabled worker and a need for productivity leads to frustration and perhaps even ill-­chosen words. Luckily, one or two such incidents aren’t likely to end in a big jury award.

Whistle-blower or revealer of trade secrets?

10/31/2014
A former attorney for the Vanguard Group in Malvern is suing the investment firm, claiming he was fired for refusing to go along with an illegal tax scheme.

MPW Industrial Services settles disability bias complaint

10/31/2014
Ohio-based MPW Industrial Services has agreed to settle a disability discrimination suit the EEOC filed on behalf of a job applicant.

You’ll need those notes: Save employee complaints

10/31/2014

If an employee cares enough about a promotion, assignment or training opportunity to contact HR with a complaint, save the note, email or other communication. Here’s why.

Voluntary retirement likely nixes wrongful-discharge suit

10/31/2014
Have you ever urged an employee facing discipline to retire instead of being fired? That’s OK—as long as you provide an alternative, such as allowing the em­­ployee to defend himself by offering his side of the story.

When inconsistency pays: Lack of uniform policy helps get class action decertified

10/31/2014
A federal court has decertified a class-action FLSA case involving several thousand workers at a hospital in Langhorne. The class representative was unable to show that an employer’s policies were uniformly enforced and therefore couldn’t show that the named litigants were “typical” of the entire group.

Prevent fail-to-hire suits by stripping protected characteristics from résumés

10/31/2014
Here’s an easy way to avoid needless failure-to-hire lawsuits: Sim­­ply have someone who is not involved in the initial decision to offer interviews remove risky identifying information from résumés.

Two laws, one condition: ADA disability doesn’t necessarily warrant FMLA leave

10/31/2014
Some employers think disabled employees are automatically eligible for FMLA leave in addition to being entitled to reasonable accommodations. That’s not always true.