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Employment Law

When personalities clash, document reason for conflict

10/07/2010
You can’t just shrug off co-worker conflicts. Instead, carefully document the problem just in case an employee sues. You’ll be able to show that personality, not discrimination, is the reason for an employee’s problems.

When push comes to shove, no retaliation unless protected right was violated first

10/07/2010

Employees who complain about alleged discrimination or harassment that violates Title VII or other anti-discrimination laws are protected from retaliation for reporting their allegations. But that doesn’t automatically mean every complaint about workplace problems is protected. If the complaint doesn’t touch on clearly identifiable workplace rights, it’s just a complaint.

N.Y. court refuses to apply Ledbetter Act to pay disparities because of missed promotions

10/07/2010

When Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, it sought to guarantee women who had been denied equal pay in the past fresh opportunities to challenge their lower pay with each paycheck issued. Now a woman alleging sexual harassment and retaliation has tried to use that act to revive old claims relating to promotions. Her bid to expand the law in court failed.

Bloomberg, court lock horns over firefighter hiring

10/07/2010
A Brooklyn court has extended an injunction preventing New York City from hiring new firefighters because existing hiring tests discriminate against minorities. The court proposed five alternative hiring plans that would bypass continued use of tests, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg claims all five require the city to use illegal quotas.

3 new state employment laws you must know

10/07/2010
Gov. David Paterson has signed into law legislation protecting domestic workers, granting bereavement and funeral leave rights to same-sex partners and ensuring fair play in the construction industry.

Pay cut? Beware constructive discharge claim

10/07/2010

Can an employee you never fired sue you for a discriminatory termination? Oddly enough, yes. Under some circumstances, an employee can quit and claim she was “constructively discharged.” To do so, she has to show conditions at work were intolerable. And now a federal court has concluded that cutting someone’s pay can be an intolerable condition.

Can FMLA be taken to care for parent overseas?

10/07/2010
Q. One of our employees has a sick parent who lives in another country. She wants FMLA leave to care for the parent. Is FMLA available under the circumstances? And how would I verify the authenticity of a foreign medical certification?

Supremes start work: 3 employment law cases on High Court docket this year

10/05/2010
The Supreme Court term that began yesterday will decide three important employment law cases. Here’s our round-up of upcoming High Court arguments that could affect background checks, discipline and firings and the tricky issue of determining the employment eligibility of foreign-born workers.

Unpaid overtime meets the FMLA: The two-headed monster waiting to trip you up

10/05/2010

Many part-time employees don’t qualify for FMLA leave because they haven’t worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave. But now some hourly employees and their attorneys are trying a new approach, claiming employers failed to count so-called off-the-clock work toward FMLA eligibility. It’s a wake up call: You must track every hour your employee works.

A sign of change: New NLRB majority says pro-union ‘bannering’ against employers is legal

10/05/2010
Forecasts of a shift in the rulings at the National Labor Relations Board are starting to come true. In a trio of cases, it said that “bannering” by a union—holding a large banner near a neutral business urging the public to boycott the company because of the union’s dispute with a primary employer—does not violate the National Labor Relations Act.