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Employment Law

Disabled waitress sues after Houston restaurant raises bar

04/07/2014
Nick’s Restaurant and Sports Bar in Houston faces an EEOC lawsuit after it allegedly stopped accommodating a disabled em­­ployee with dwarfism.

Not every work dispute is a ‘federal case’

04/07/2014
Federal courts are beginning to be more selective in the types of employment discrimination cases they consider. No longer can employees essentially “make a federal case” out of any workplace dispute.

Don’t let lawsuit fear stop appropriate discipline

04/07/2014
Some employers want to avoid litigation and don’t like to discipline someone they are sure will sue. That can be a mistake, especially if the employee in question is harassing or discriminating against others.

Comments don’t always have to be overtly sexual to create hostile environment

04/07/2014
When a supervisor constantly ridicules an employee, watch out. The worker may have a hostile work environment claim if she can tie the demeaning comments to just one or two overtly sexual ones.

Know the FLSA’s requirements: Small, local employers may well have to comply

04/07/2014

Very small employers that aren’t engaged in interstate commerce sometimes try to argue that they don’t need to follow the FLSA because they are simply too local. But they often run into legal hurdles when employees sue, as this recent case shows.

Same job, new office? That’s not retaliation

04/07/2014
While a real adverse employment action may trigger a retaliation claim, many minor changes aren’t truly adverse. For example, moving an employee to a different office without changing anything substantial about his job probably isn’t retaliation.

ACA play-or-pay regs dole out breaks to all employers

04/07/2014
Under final Affordable Care Act regulations issued in February, for the 2015 plan year only, large employers with at least 100 employees during 2014 must either offer 70% of full-time employees and their nonspouse dependents affordable health insurance that provides minimum value or pay a free-rider penalty. Beginning with the 2016 plan year, offers of coverage must be made to 95% of full-time employees and their nonspouse dependents.

Remind bosses: They can be personally liable

04/07/2014

Quite often, employees’ attorneys make sure supervisors are separately charged in a complaint and individually liable. For example, more lawyers are adding negligence and interference with contractual rights to their claims, suing supervisors personally. Cite this trend during training to motivate your super­visors to follow HR’s advice on discipline, hiring and other issues—or else face the consequences.

Beef over handling pork leads to court date

04/03/2014
A former meat packer at the Smith­­field Foods plant in Clinton has a bone to pick with the company. She claims her complaints about food safety went un­­heeded and uninvestigated during her 18 months on the job.

Court losing patience with pro se complaints

04/03/2014
Courts seem to be losing patience with so-called pro se lawsuits in which workers act as their own lawyers to sue and provide no specifics about alleged employer wrongdoing.