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Practice Area: Employment

Department Of Labor Aligns Itself With Elventh Circuit By Announcing The Primary Beneficiary Test As The Definitive Test For Assessing Whether Interns Qualify As Employees Under The Federal Labor Standards Act

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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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Recent Changes To National Labor Relations Board Law

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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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Eeoc Succeeds In Bringing Sexual Orientation Discrimination Lawsuit Under Title Vii

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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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Eleventh Circuit Holds That Breastfeeding Employees Are Entitled To Protection Under The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

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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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Reasonable Accommodations Under The Ada Beyond Fmla Entitlement

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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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Eleventh Circuit Holds Gender Nonconformity Claims To Be A Distinct Avenue Of Relief Under Title Vii

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An Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals panel held that a “gender non-conformity claim is not ‘just another way to claim discrimination based on sexual orientation,’” but is instead a “separate, distinct avenue for relief under Title VII.” The majority opinion explained that Title VII recognizes discrimination based on a failure to conform to a gender…
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Ups Pays $2 Million To Settle Disability Claims

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The United Parcel Service (“UPS”) recently agreed to pay $2 million to settle the claims of approximately 90 disabled employees.  Approximately 70 employees were parties to a lawsuit filed by the EEOC and the remaining 20 had pending administrative Charges.  The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Illinois, alleged that UPS discriminated against…
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Department Of Labor Reconsidering Minimum Salary For White Collar Exemption

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Since November 2016, a nationwide injunction has prevented the Obama Administration’s new overtime rule for white collar workers from going into effect.  The Obama-era rule, which increase the minimum annual salary required to support exempt status from $23,660.00 to $47,476.00, was poised to convert millions of employees from exempt to non-exempt from the FLSA’s overtime…
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Ninth Circuit’s Outlook On Equal Pay Laws And Competitive Hiring

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A recent decision issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employer may defend a claim under the Equal Pay Act by proving that its pay structure was based on employees’ prior salaries, so long as this structure was reasonable and effectuated a business policy. This decision parts ways with other Circuits…
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The Rise Of Ban The Box Laws

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The National Employment Law Project (“NELP”) partnered with several other organizations to spearhead a grassroots movement to encourage employers to change their policies to consider the qualification of job applicants without consideration of their criminal history.  Prior to the efforts of NELP, it was commonplace for an employer to ask a job applicant whether the…
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