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Employment Law

Court: No arbitration for government retirement plan disputes

04/03/2012

A state appeals court has reversed a lower court ruling and held that the city of Yonkers’ refusal to reimburse new employees for their statutorily required Tier V retirement plan contributions was not subject to arbitration. Our firm—Bond, Schoeneck & King—represented the city of Yonkers in the litigation.

FDNY’s discrimination tab could reach $65M

04/03/2012
A federal judge has called for lawyers to serve as “special masters” to decide how to allocate money for minority job applicants who were unfairly denied jobs with the Fire Department of the City of New York. The DOJ filed suit on behalf of minorities who complained they were not hired because of their race.

Disability harassment costs Buffalo store $70,000

04/03/2012

A Family Video store in Buffalo has agreed to settle a disability discrimination suit filed by a former employee who suffers from depression and social anxiety disorder. He claims store management har­assed him because of his condition and then fired him when he complained.

Salon cuts losses, agrees to pay for pregnancy bias

04/03/2012
Warren Tricomi Salons, with locations on New York’s Upper East Side, will pay $30,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination suit filed by the EEOC on behalf of an assistant who claims the company re­­scinded an offer to promote her and then fired her after her boss learned she was pregnant.

Former ‘Charlie Rose’ intern seeks class-action lawsuit

04/03/2012
Public television shows often operate on a shoestring. According to Lucy Bickerton, the PBS “Charlie Rose” interview show was so cheap, it used interns like her to fill in for actual employees.

Guilty plea may end officer’s discrimination case

04/03/2012
A police officer who betrays the public’s trust by committing a crime may automatically lose his job. And if he pleads guilty to a covered offense, a court has ruled, any complaint he had that the employer treated him unfairly by suspending him will be dismissed.

Extremely small businesses may be exempt from FLSA

04/03/2012
Almost every employer is covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s wage-and-hour provisions unless it’s specifically exempted. But some truly local and isolated entities may not be, depending on the specifics.

Cover USERRA, New York law by drafting unequivocal severance releases

04/03/2012
Don’t worry that releases you ask employees to sign in exchange for severance pay aren’t broad enough to cover claims under USERRA or the New York Military Law. As long as the release is clear and unequivocal about what’s being waived, it doesn’t have to specifically reference the laws.

When employee is at-will, you’re free to change compensation going forward

04/03/2012
Here’s an important note in this rocky economy: Employers are free to change many of the terms and conditions of employment for at-will employees, including changing their compensation.

Disabled employee sues under NYHRL? HR managers may be held personally liable

04/03/2012
Here’s a new worry for New York HR managers: Mess up too badly and you could be held personally liable for damages under the state’s New York Human Rights Law. Something as simple as refusing to approve what turns out to have been a reasonable accommodation may leave you on the hook for thousands of dollars or more in damages.