As the opioid epidemic continues to take a grim toll, workplace issues relating to opioid use remain more likely to arise. For HR pros, missteps in handling these issues can result in hefty payouts. Here is a case in point:…
Employment Law
The scope of the duty to provide religious accommodation to employees may well expand in 2023. On Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving a Christian mail carrier who resigned after being told he would…
Finding a school district failed to prove a fired teacher committed willful misconduct, a Pennsylvania court affirmed a ruling that determined the teacher was not ineligible for unemployment compensation (UC). The school district in this case had an employee code…
Race bias claims can be based on inadequate training, a new ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit says. In this case, however, the employee lost his race bias claim because he did not prove his…
The duty of employers to accommodate disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) doesn’t begin with a new worker’s first day on the job. Instead, it also fully applies during the hiring process. What steps should employers take to…
A Georgia appeals court revived a former employee's breach of contract claim against her former employer. Here's why she got a second chance to prove her claim in court. In 1999, Sandra Sigmon was hired as a teacher for the…
A teacher who was prohibited from wearing a MAGA hat at training sessions will proceed with a First Amendment lawsuit following a ruling by a federal appeals tribunal. The case highlights a basic but critical distinction between public and private…
Race discrimination is bad enough, but an Oklahoma-based company recently learned the hard way that adding a retaliation mistake on top of that can lead to hefty settlements. American Piping Inspection, Inc. has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a…
Employers have a legitimate interest in preventing FMLA abuse. But of the tools at their disposal to fight that fight, is conducting surveillance on employees one they should use? The short answer: Surveillance is perfectly fine as long as there…
Work-from-home arrangements were always a potential accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and they became generally more prominent when the now-lingering pandemic first hit. But despite their proliferation, some employers are continuing to run into trouble when it…
JDKD Enterprises, the owner/operator of several McDonald’s franchises in New Jersey, has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of an autistic employee. The EEOC claimed the franchisee fired an employee who worked at several McDonald’s…
Employers who find themselves in the midst of a labor practices probe by the feds have the right to prepare to defend themselves, including by talking to their employees. But as a new ruling from the federal National Labor Relations…
Iowa's highest court ordered a school district to reinstate a fired teacher who had been placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP) and remanded her case to the district court for further proceedings. After receiving an unsatisfactory classroom evaluation, a…
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a white employee’s reverse discrimination claim. William Groves is a white athletic director who worked at the district for years. In 2017, he applied to serve as Corporation Director of Athletics. The superintendent,…
UPDATE: As expected, President Biden has signed the Speak Out Act into law, ushering in a new era of protection for victims of sexual misconduct who are subject to nondisclosure and/or non-disparagement agreements in connection with their employment. The new…
Terminations can be tricky – especially when an employee has recently been out on medical leave. Case in point: A company fired an employee four days after she returned to work from a medical leave due to a head injury…
