An onslaught of new lawsuits filed by the EEOC near the end of September demonstrates the wide scope of protection afforded to applicants and employees with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In five federal lawsuits filed within a span of just five days, the agency in combination has asserted a variety of…
For HR pros, it’s a long-standing principle that company documentation can make or break an employer in court. On one hand, solid documentation can protect employers from future legal troubles. And on the other hand, paperwork mistakes (like these common documentation errors) often cause legal headaches. Either way, your company documentation can become a focal…
So you’ve decided to organize a fun activity for employees to participate in. Maybe you’ll set up a cornhole tournament or friendly softball game. Everyone can have a little fun and go home happy. What could possibly go wrong? The answer: Plenty. An employee might suffer the dreaded cornhole injury to a wrist or ankle….
As the RTO wars continue, employers are pushing hard to get workers back into their cubicles, with some going so far as to “incentivize” office time with punitive consequences for noncompliance. But as this RTO lawsuit shows, some employers may be going too far. A remote employee sued her former employer, alleging the company illegally…
Chipotle has agreed to pay $400,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit stemming from alleged manager misconduct, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) announced. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a Chipotle located in Sammamish, Washington, permitted three crew members – one was a 17-year-old minor – to be sexually harassed by a 29-year-old service manager….
When it comes to paying employees bonuses, some tricky questions arise. What are the tax consequences of the bonus? How does the payment of a bonus affect overtime calculations? What if the bonus was discretionary? This is a many-tentacled question, and we won’t explore every nook and cranny. But here is some general guidance for…
A manager’s mistake during discussions about an intern’s lip ring doomed an employer’s chance to nip an ADA case in the bud. Here’s what went wrong: In January 2017, an Arizona school district hired Addam Brown – a doctoral candidate at a nearby university – as a volunteer school psychologist intern. After Brown’s internship was…
What’s the worst-case scenario for an employer that refuses to provide court-ordered relief to a mistreated employee? How about getting taken into custody by U.S. Marshals? Does it happen a lot? No. But is it possible? Yes, as two corporate officials for a Wisconsin employer learned firsthand on September 12. Dragged into court: Case background…
A federal appeals court in New York has issued an important — and pro-employee — new ruling on the scope of protection afforded to applicants and employees by Title VII. The decision comes on the heels of another significant employee-friendly Title VII federal appeals court ruling issued by the full Fifth Circuit last month. Though…
