Let’s start with a basic rule in employment cases filed under the ADA: To be a “qualified individual with a disability,” an applicant or employee must be able to perform the essential job functions of the position that is held or being sought. Is physical presence at the job site an essential function? Sometimes, the […]
A California-based ice cream company will pay $200,000 and take other steps to settle a lawsuit that accused it of engaging in national origin discrimination by illegally favoring Hispanic job applicants over others. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Fresno-based Helados La Tapatia, which produces Mexican-style desserts. The agency’s suit accused the […]
Two former employees who were not rehired following a reorganization did not prove that their former employer discriminated against them based on age, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled.
It’s a line courts like to repeat in harassment cases that assert Title VII violations: “Title VII is not a general civility code for the American workplace.” But where does rude behavior cross the line and become illegal harassment? That’s a question that a federal appeals court had to answer in a recent case that […]
The case presents a classic question: How far must employers go to accommodate the religious beliefs of applicants and employees? Score one for employers on this one. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided that Walmart did not violate Title VII when it withdrew a job offer after the applicant for a […]
A manufacturing engineer was unable to convince a federal appeals court that his employer denied him a promotion and later terminated his employment because he filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. hired Robert Gipson as a quality control inspector in 2004. In 2006, it promoted him […]
The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a hotel operator in Texas. The suit says a worker was fired for reporting a safety issue and seeking medical attention. According to the Department of Labor, in January 2019 an employee at a Holiday Inn Express & Suites hotel in Waller, Texas, told the hotel that they […]
The COVID-19 situation is constantly changing, and because of that, so are the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) official guidelines. Just recently, the CDC gave the green light for completely vaccinated people to gather indoors without masks or social distancing. With this announcement and everyone ready to get back to normal, a lot of people […]
A recent court case showed how one employer defeated an FMLA retaliation lawsuit just by enforcing its call-out procedures. Here’s a breakdown of what happened. Made only one call Kelly Soutner worked for Penn State Health when she needed to take FMLA leave. The company’s procedure for requesting FMLA leave involved making two calls – […]
