The U.S. Supreme Court just began its new term. A lot of what they do will have a big impact on HR.
The three big employment cases the Court will rule on:
1. AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen
The case involves an employee who’s suing over lost pension benefits. She claims her benefits were lowered because of time she missed while taking two pregnancy leaves. That’s a violation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA).
But there’s a twist: The leave was taken decades ago, before the PDA was passed. Under the company’s old policy — which was legal at the time — the time off wasn’t counted as hours worked for her pension eligibility. She won in both the district and appeals courts on the grounds that the law was in effect at the time she suffered the financial loss (i.e., when she retired).
2. Crawford v. Metropolitan Govt. of Nashville
An employee was fired after she served as a witness during an internal sexual harassment complaint investigation. She sued for retaliation.
The employer claims the laws barring retaliation against witnesses only apply to people who participate in formal EEOC investigations. The employee claims the law applies to her case, as well.
3. 14 Penn Plaza v. Pyett
As part of a collective bargaining agreement, employees signed a document waiving the right to sue for age discrimination. They sued anyway, claiming the waiver was unenforceable because the Age Discrimination in Employment Act guarantees them the right to sue.
We’ll keep you posted on how the Court rules.
