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Employment Law

11th Commandment: If employee truly believes, thou shalt accommodate

11/18/2013
Federal law says that as long as an employee’s religious belief is “sincerely held”—which is almost impossible to quantify—employers have to look for a reasonable accommodation that meets the em­­ployee’s needs.

Supreme Court to hear variety of employment-related cases

11/14/2013
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a number of cases during the 2013-14 term that could affect employers.

Facebook posts earn Walmart employee the ax

11/14/2013
Walmart managers at the chain’s Hamburg store in suburban Buffalo moved quickly after the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations alerted it to anti-Islamic Facebook postings by one of its assistant managers.

Requiring foreign language skills isn’t discrimination

11/14/2013
Do you need some employees to speak a foreign language? Don’t worry that requiring fluency could be viewed as discrimination.

Don’t let preconceived notions of disabled employee’s capabilities affect reinstatement

11/14/2013
Some jobs are physically difficult to perform, especially for someone with a disability. But if a disabled employee’s doctors believe she can perform the essential functions, let her try. Otherwise, you face a potential disability discrimination lawsuit.

Add failure-to-hire claims to list of employment law issues involving internships

11/14/2013
You have probably read that un­­paid interns are suing ­employers for unpaid minimum wages and winning. Now they’re pushing the envelope even further, trying to get federal courts to hold employers liable for sexual harassment and hostile environment claims, too.

EEOC sues sheet metal contractor for sex bias

11/14/2013
Cold Spring Harbor-based Vamco Sheet Metal faces an EEOC sex discrimination lawsuit resulting from its work on an expansion on the campus of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice be­­tween 2009 and 2011.

Manhattan strippers gain minimum wage, overtime

11/14/2013
A federal judge has ruled that federal labor law covers strippers at Rick’s Cabaret in midtown Manhattan. As a result, they must be paid the minimum wage and are entitled to overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week.

Ensure taking leave is employee’s choice

11/14/2013
Forcing someone to take leave when she doesn’t want to can be considered an adverse employment action and become the basis for a discrimination or retaliation lawsuit.

Stop harassment by reining in sexual banter

11/14/2013
A few stray, sexually oriented comments between co-workers aren’t enough to support a full-blown sexually hostile work environment lawsuit. But you can prevent serious legal trouble by stepping in before it gets out of hand.