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Employment Law

Labor pains: What to expect from U.S. Labor Department for rest of ’14

07/11/2014
Twice every year, federal agencies offer an unheralded but revealing peek at their upcoming priorities. The U.S. Depart­­ment of Labor’s most recent semiannual regulatory agenda provides enforcement clues that employers should pay attention to.

Senate bill would raise threshold for salaried workers’ OT pay

07/11/2014
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, has introduced legislation that would make more exempt workers eligible for overtime pay.

‘Do As I Say’ Department: Disability nonprofit sued for disability bias

07/10/2014
A Detroit nonprofit formed to assist people with disabilities faces EEOC charges that it violated the ADA by discriminating against a deaf worker.

DOL announces new definition of ‘spouse’ for FMLA purposes

07/09/2014

United States v. Windsor struck down a Defense of Marriage Act provision that interpreted “marriage” and “spouse” to be limited to opposite-sex marriage for the purposes of federal law. Now the Department of Labor has issued rules extending FMLA protections to same-sex married couples.

Legislation will end employers’ annual wage-notice scramble

07/09/2014
On June 19, 2014, New York Assembly and Senate passed legislation eliminating a Wage Theft Prevention Act requirement that employers must provide wage notices to all employees by Feb. 1 each year.

NYC construction workers gain $4.9 million in back pay

07/09/2014
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has announced a settlement with federal contractor MDG Design & Construction, the prime contractor on the Grand Street Guild public housing construction project on New York’s Lower East Side.

Long Island cop wins $1.35M in reverse discrimination case

07/09/2014
A federal jury has awarded $1.35 million to a police lieutenant in the Long Island town of Freeport after finding that the town’s black mayor turned him down for a promotion to chief of police because he is white. A Hispanic fire department official got the job.

Biased at Tiffany?

07/09/2014
A black man who runs two Tiffany & Co. stores in Texas is suing the luxury retailer in New York, alleging that the company engages in “systemic, nationwide pattern and practice of racial discrimination.”

Employee represents himself? Take the suit seriously

07/09/2014
These days, few attorneys accept cases they know they can’t win. That means more employees are acting as their own lawyers. Don’t make a classic employer mistake: Ignoring a pro se lawsuit in which the employee represents himself. Instead, practice patience and diligence in pushing for the court to dismiss the case.

Most political speech doesn’t create hostile environment

07/09/2014
Politics sometimes come up when co-workers talk. As long as what’s said isn’t overtly offensive, those discussions don’t create a hostile work environment—even if some employees are sensitive about the subject matter.