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New York

Court orders rehiring of unvaxxed workers

11/08/2022

Some employers are bracing for a rough flu/covid season. But should you insist that your employees vaccinate against them? That depends.

Head-scratcher: Staffing company hires based on race, sex and other discriminatory practices

10/26/2022

Another staffing company was hit with a lawsuit for complying with clients’ race and sex preferences, placing employees in positions based on race and sex, and rejecting pregnant applicants.

Huge settlement highlights local law risks

08/18/2022

Gone are the days when big verdicts or settlements were all the result of running afoul of federal laws. These days, employers also have to worry about increasingly aggressive state and local government agencies enforcing their own anti-discrimination laws and other employment ordinances.

Warn bosses about adverse action after bias complaint

05/26/2022

Once an employee’s discrimination lawsuit gets to court, anything can happen. In fact, it’s common for employees to lose on their initial discrimination or harassment claims but still win an associated retaliation claim. That’s why you must train managers that any adverse action—even as minor as a schedule change—can be interpreted as retaliation if it comes after an employee has complained about bias or harassment

Don’t let bosses override accommodations

05/26/2022

Whether you handle accommodation requests internally or through a third party, make sure you don’t undo all your efforts by letting supervisors override accommodation recommendations and implement their own measures.

Avoid hiring based on preferred ‘look’

04/28/2022

In a fickle consumer market, you might be tempted to base hiring decisions on the kind of employees you think your customers might prefer. That could be a big mistake. Courts take a dim view of rejecting qualified applicants who don’t fit preconceived notions of who is a good fit or has the right “look” for service jobs.

NLRB flexes muscle with reinstatement order

04/28/2022

The National Labor Relations Board, which enforces the National Labor Relations Act, is aggressively pursuing reinstatement as a remedy when it finds an employer has committed an unfair labor practice. That means more employers these days may have to take back workers they already fired. Ordering an employee’s reinstatement is an unusual step, but it could become more common.

You risk bias lawsuits if you bypass promotion rules

01/12/2022

When considering promoting an employee, carefully track all of the steps in the promotion process, from the initial job announcement to the final decision. Be sure to follow all your promotion procedures. And never let favoritism taint the process. Otherwise, you could be courting a bias lawsuit.

Consider religious objections to vaccination

10/21/2021

Legal experts say employers are within their rights to fire unvaxxed staff. However, Title VII’s religious discrimination provisions still apply. That means employers must weigh whether employees with sincerely held religious beliefs against vaccination are entitled to reasonable accommodations of those beliefs.

Court: DOL can override arbitration agreement

10/07/2021

You may require workers to sign arbitration agreements to keep disputes over their independent contractor status out of the court system. Management-side employment lawyers have recommended that strategy for decades. However, that approach just ran into a major roadblock.