Health care registry companies provide matchmaking and referral services for qualified, pre-screened and vetted home caregivers. They often also provide administrative services. As part of the “gig economy,” health care registries often tread a fine line between classifying caregivers as independent contractors or employers. On July 13, 2018, the Wage and Hour Division of the…
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On May 21, 2018, in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, the Supreme Court upheld the enforceability of arbitration agreements containing class and collective action waivers of wage and hour disputes. In deciding the case, the majority held that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) mandates the enforcement of arbitration agreements and the right to pursue class…
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The recently passed Consolidated Appropriations Act (“CAA”) put an end to an ongoing controversy over the status of a proposed Department of Labor (“DOL”) tip rule and the underlying dispute over whether employers who do not claim the tip credit against the federal minimum wage may be prohibited from including non-tipped employees in mandatory tip…
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On April 2, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, 584 U.S. ___ (2018), holding that auto dealership service advisors are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) overtime pay requirement. The case began in 2012 in a California District Court, and was later…
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In recent years, a Circuit Court split has emerged regarding whether Title VII prohibits discrimination based solely on sexual orientation. On February 26, 2018, the Justices of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard an appeal seeking reinstatement of a Title VII claim brought by the estate of a former employee, Donald Zarda (“Mr. Zarda”). …
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The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that the “primary beneficiary” test is the definitive test for analyzing intern-employer relationships under the Federal Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). That test has been promulgated by several Circuit Courts, including the Second, Sixth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeal. See Benjamin v. B & H Educ., Inc.,…
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Since taking office, President Trump has appointed three new members to the five-member board of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), who will each serve a five year term. This has resulted in big changes to Obama-era rulings. The rulings so far have been pro-employer: In Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, 365 NLRB No. 156 (Dec. 14,…
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More and more plaintiffs are testing the judicial waters by bringing claims for discrimination based on sexual orientation under Title VII. Just recently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) celebrated its first success in a sexual orientation discrimination lawsuit. In EEOC v. Scott Medical Health Center, P.C., 217 F.Supp.3d 834 (W.D. Penn. 2016), the EEOC…
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Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit determined that breastfeeding is a related medical condition to birth, and different treatment based on an employee’s breastfeeding is prohibited under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”). In Hicks v. City of Tuscaloosa, 870 F.3d 1253 (11th Cir. 2017), the plaintiff was a police officer who…
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The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc., No. 15-3754, 2017 WL 4160849 (7th Cir. Sept. 20, 2017) that the ADA does not require employers to accommodate employees by granting them leave well beyond the employee’s leave entitlement under the FMLA. The Court addressed what amount of leave constitutes…
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