Businesses continue to grapple with the realities of working during the COVID-19 pandemic and the quickly evolving legal landscape regarding returning employees to work. A number of new lawsuits related to pregnancy discrimination have been recently filed because COVID-19 can present an elevated immune and respiratory risk to pregnant women. In California, an employee alleged…
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On June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) protects gay, lesbian and transgender persons in their employment. Prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the law had no specific protection for sexual orientation or gender identity. The Court’s decision has resolved a…
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has clarified a question that has been playing on the minds of employees and employers alike: during the COVID-19 pandemic, how does the ADA apply to workers who do not want to return to the workplace because they are “high risk?” If an employee, who has a medical condition…
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On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), which is a $2 trillion relief package aimed to help diminish the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Act includes certain provisions particularly relevant to employers. Among many other things, the Act creates a loan program for mid-size companies,…
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Both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) published guidance for employers on planning for and protecting their workplaces from exposure to and infection from COVID-19, or coronavirus. Employees in most types of workplaces have a low risk of exposure and infection. However, OSHA warns that…
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On January 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor published in the Federal Register the Final Rule regarding joint employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). These changes to the rule are the first meaningful revisions to the regulations in more than 60 years. The Final Rule discusses two joint employer scenarios: (1)…
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The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled that an employer may now require confidentiality from employees involved in open workplace investigations. This resolves a conflict between the NLRB and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and provides clarity for employers. In 2015, the NLRB reversed precedent and held that employers must determine whether imposing confidentiality…
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After a recent Eleventh Circuit decision in Lewis v. Governor of Alabama 896 F.3d 1282 (11th Cir. 2018), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to a full-court review to decide the validity of a 2016 Alabama Law prohibiting cities or other local municipalities from adopting their own laws concerning minimum wages. The law was…
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On November 8, 2019, a unanimous three-judge panel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Tesone v. Empire Marketing Strategies holding that employees who sue their employers for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) do not necessarily need to submit expert medical testimony to establish they have a disability. …
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On September 24, 2019, the Department of Labor released its Final Rule, modifying the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) overtime regulations. The Final Rule results in fewer employees being exempt, and more employees being eligible for overtime pay. As such, employers should budget to include additional expenditures in overtime for the coming year. Since 2004,…
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