The top 7 recent employment law cases workforce managers should know

In this ever-changing landscape, it is increasingly important to keep up to speed on the latest employment legal cases and ...

https://www.workforce.com/news/the-top-7-recent-employment-law-cases-workforce-managers-should-know

Richmond.com

Labor Law: New labor rule issued on joint employment liability

The U.S. Department of Labor recently implemented a final rule clarifying when an employee has multiple employers and thus could hold ...

Wall Street Journal (blog)

New U.S. Rule Limits When Two Companies Share Liability for Labor-Law Violations

A new Labor Department rule will make it more difficult for workers to claim to ... National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group, ...

Employee Benefit News

Why some employers are fighting a new California labor law

A new labor law went into effect in California at the start of the year that says employers in the state must hire workers as employees, not ...

The New York Times

Chipotle Is Fined $1.4 Million in Vast Child Labor Case

Faced with a mounting labor shortage and high employee turnover, restaurant ... Child labor laws vary significantly from state to state, making it ...

Today.com

Chipotle fined $1.3 million over thousands of child-labor law abuses

“We hope these citations send a message to other fast food chains and restaurants that they cannot violate our child labor laws and put young ...

The San Diego Union-Tribune

Econometer: Should legislators consider modifying California's labor bill AB 5?

Econometer: Should legislators consider modifying California's labor bill ... The law sought to turn independent workers into actual employees, ...

Sludge

Biden and Buttigieg Take Big Bucks From Union-Busting ...

Attorneys at law firms with notable histories of anti-worker actions have been ... The firm's Labor and Employment group offers legal services ...

QSR magazine

Chipotle Fined $1.37M for Violating Child Labor Laws

Chipotle also did not properly notify employees of their rights as it relates to sick time ... In fiscal year 2019, Healey's office issued 41 citations for child labor law ...

MPNnow.com

NY Farm Bureau grapples with labor law

A top priority is amending the law and offsetting farmer labor costs, ... that farms have professional level employees, including farm managers, ...

The National Law Review

Workplace Response to Coronavirus: Employment Law Concerns

Along with workplace safety and health issues, employers must consider other significant employment and labor law issues that will be raised ...

SEC Announces $20 Million Whistleblower Award

On November 14, 2016, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced an award of at least $20 million to a whistleblower for providing information that initiated a successful investigation and enforcement action. In addressing the award, Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC's Office of the Whistleblower, stated that, "Sizeable awards like this one should encourage whistleblowers everywhere that there are real financial incentives to promptly reporting potential securities law violation

http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/sec-announces-20-million-whistleblower-61851/

Lessons Learned From the Latest List of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Settlements

Several recent settlements between the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and employers in Pennsylvania underscore the importance of proper policies and procedures in the context of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). While neither the court nor a jury of fact-finders reached the merits of the following cases, the alleged facts and claims—and disclosed settlement amounts—remind employers to review policies and procedures to ensure that employers are compliant with the law and following best practices in their industry as to employment-related decisions.

ADA: An action was recently instituted in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania by Plaintiff, the EEOC, against a trucking company, alleging disability discrimination under the ADA. The EEOC alleged that since 2009, the company had violated the ADA and discriminated on the basis of disability. The EEOC claimed that the company discriminated by, inter alia, administering an overbroad physical qualification standard for applicants and employees entering positions involving the operation of powered industrial trucks (“PITs”), such as forklifts, clamp trucks, and lift trucks, that is not job-related or consistent with business necessity, and failing to conduct individualized assessments of applicants’ or employees’ ability to operate PITs and/or consider accommodations that, if needed, would enable the individual to do so. The EEOC also alleged that the company violated the ADA by administering unlawful medical exams or inquiries as part of its physical qualification standard.

A settlement agreement was reached between the parties on January 25, 2016, for $180,000.

What You Need to Know: Under the ADA, an employer’s ability to make disability-related inquiries or require medical examinations is analyzed in three stages: pre-offer, post-offer, and during employment. At the first stage (prior to an offer of employment), the ADA prohibits all disability-related inquiries and medical examinations, even if they are related to the job. At the second stage (after an applicant is given a conditional job offer, but before s/he starts work), an employer may make disability-related inquiries and conduct medical examinations, regardless of whether they are related to the job, as long as it does so for all entering employees in the same job category. At the third stage (after employment begins), an employer may make disability-related inquiries and require medical examinations only if they are job-related and consistent with business necessity. What this case underscores for the employer is the importance of not making disability-related inquiries and medical examinations at the pre-offer stage of employment, even if they are related to the job.

ADEA: An action was instituted in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Plaintiff, the EEOC, against a fast-food company, alleging age discrimination under the ADEA. In this action, the Commission alleged that the company violated the ADEA and discriminated on the basis of age by requiring job applicants to provide age or date of birth, telling certain applicants that they are “too old” for the position after the applicants disclosed their age, and not hiring these applicants because of their age.

A settlement agreement was reached between the parties on January 20, 2016, for $36,000.

What You Need to Know: A request on the part of an employer for information such as age or date of birth on an employment application form is not, in itself, a violation of the ADEA. However, because the request that an applicant state his or her age may tend to deter older applicants or otherwise indicate discrimination against older individuals, employment application forms that request such information are closely scrutinized. What this case underscores for the employer is that if you require job applicants to provide age or date of birth, be certain that the request is for a permissible purpose and not for purposes prohibited by the ADEA. If you do request that a job applicant provide his or her age or date of birth, it would also be prudent to indicate that the purpose is not one prohibited by the statute by indicating on the application the following statutory prohibition language:

“The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prohibits discrimination on the basis of age with respect to individuals who are at least 40 years of age, or by other means. The term ‘employment applications,’ refers to all written inquiries about employment or applications for employment or promotion including, but not limited to, résumés or other summaries of the applicant’s background. It relates not only to written pre-employment inquiries, but to inquiries by employees concerning terms, conditions, or privileges of employment as specified in section 4 of the Act.”

Title VII: An action was instituted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia by Plaintiff, the EEOC, against an energy company, alleging national origin discrimination under Title VII. Even though the company is located in West Virginia, the EEOC District Office, which pursued this case, was the Philadelphia District Office, which oversees Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, parts of New Jersey, and Ohio.

In this action, the EEOC alleged that a mine foreman was subjected to pervasive national origin discrimination when supervisory and non-supervisory personnel made degrading comments based on his Polish ancestry, such as “stupid Polack.” The EEOC further alleged that the foreman was retaliated against when he was disciplined and ultimately fired from employment after he made a good-faith complaint of discrimination.

A settlement agreement was reached between the parties on January 19, 2016, for $62,500.

What You Need to Know: Federal discrimination laws prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose practices made unlawful by those statutes, including Title VII. To succeed in a retaliation claim, employees generally must establish (1) that they engaged in a protected activity (such as making a good-faith complaint about the discrimination); (2) that they suffered an adverse employment action (such as unfair discipline or termination); and (3) that there is an underlying connection between the protected activity and the adverse action. Retaliation claims often crop up when an employee is subjected to an adverse employment action after being engaged in a protected activity. In particular, disciplinary action raises a red flag if it follows too closely in time to an employee’s protected activity. What this case underscores for the employer is the importance of having a workplace anti-discrimination and no-retaliation policy, harassment complaint and investigation procedures, and policies and procedures related to notice-posting, record-keeping, training, reporting, and other requirements. If your establishment does not have such policies and procedures, create and implement one immediately.

Additionally, consider the following in order to protect against claims of retaliation:

• Make sure the employee has foreknowledge of the possible or probable disciplinary consequences of his or her conduct. This is usually accomplished by providing the employee with an employee handbook, which includes rules of conduct and discipline.
• Before administering the discipline, make an effort to discover whether the employee did in fact violate the rules and policies (e.g., conduct an investigation).
• When disciplining or otherwise taking an adverse employment action, make sure that managers follow your discipline procedures fairly and consistently. Managers should not appear to target anyone who has made a discrimination claim or participated in a protected activity.
• Document discipline or adverse employment decisions to show the nondiscriminatory reasons for the actions. You should provide an accurate accounting of any and all non-discriminatory reasons for the decision as well as any steps taken prior to the adverse action (such as counseling sessions and warnings to improve).
• Review disciplinary actions before implementing them. In particular, consider the timing of the discipline to the protected activity, the degree of the discipline administered (e.g., is it reasonably related to the seriousness of the proven offense?), compliance with your establishment’s disciplinary procedures, etc.
Source:

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a1d8a985-d740-4e31-ace6-ebd8a592d963

MainStay Expands Institutional Sales Team

Previously, Mr. Lloyd was with Credit Suisse Securities, LLC, where he was a managing director and Head of Portfolio Solutions and Investment Consulting Solutions for Credit Suisse Private Bank.

Additionally, MainStay has further strengthened IIB's Defined Contribution Investment Only practice with the addition of Jonathan Blaze, who joins the team to lead its wholesaling specialist effort nationwide, as well as to cover the Central region out of Chicago.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160111005957/en/MainStay-Expands-Institutional-Sales-Team 

Ravi, Wahab, Ragesh win Rajya Sabha poll from Kerala

Senior Congress leader Vayalar Ravi, IUML nominee P.V. Abdul Wahab and CPI-M youth leader K.K. Ragesh won the Rajya Sabha elections from Kerala amid speculation of cross voting in the ruling Congress-led UDF. Ravi secured 37 votes, Wahab 36 and Ragesh got 37. The Left opposition had fielded a dummy candidate in K. Rajan, a senior CPI leader, to capitalise on any possible cross voting.

http://ift.tt/1QaueKG

Uber must face lawsuit claiming it snubs blind people

Uber Technologies Inc must defend against a lawsuit accusing the popular ride-sharing service of discriminating against blind people by refusing to transport guide dogs, a federal judge ruled. In a decision late Friday night, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins in San Jose, California, said the plaintiffs could pursue a claim that Uber was a "travel service" subject to potential liability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

http://ift.tt/1OyOLVF

Counting the US Intelligence Community Leakers

It's getting hard to keep track of the US intelligence community leakers without a scorecard. So here's my attempt: Harvard Law School professor Yochai Benkler has written an excellent law review article on the need for a whistleblower defense .

http://ift.tt/1H8yyHQ

Morgan Profits Soar While Advisor Ranks Get Thinner

How Wells Fargo Serves the Ultra-Rich Ultrahigh-net-worth investors can have complex needs. That's why Abbot Downing, Wells Fargo's group serving investors with $50 million or more, has family historians and psychologists on staff.

http://ift.tt/1Qaueum

State Added 4,000 Jobs In March, Labor Department Reports

HARTFORD - Connecticut employers added 4,000 jobs in March, a strong rebound from February, when the state's workforce shrank by thousands, the state Department of Labor said Monday.

http://ift.tt/1P5KaN1

Uber facing U.S. lawsuit claiming it discriminates against blind people

Uber Technologies Inc must defend against a lawsuit accusing the popular ride-sharing service of discriminating against blind people by refusing to transport guide dogs, a federal judge ruled. In a decision late Friday night, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins in San Jose, California, said the plaintiffs could pursue a claim that Uber was a "travel service" subject to potential liability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

http://ift.tt/1Gd2Xo9

Dick Spotswood: Leadership needed to end Sausalito ferry dock debate

Whether by car, bus or ferry Sausalito is Marin's front door. The town's Chamber of Commerce's old hokey slogan, “That's why they built the bridge,” has a point for those who see tourism as the town's financial base.

http://ift.tt/1P5FqXJ

American Eagle closing distribution center near Pittsburgh

American Eagle Outfitters says it will close a distribution center where 200 people work north of Pittsburgh at the end of July. The company announced two years ago that it planned to close the facility at the Thorn Hill Industrial Park in Warrendale.

http://ift.tt/1Ho52fE

Lawsuit: Long delay in getting VA medical records could be affecting crucial benefits

Seven disabled veterans have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans, claiming they have been waiting for their medical records for 10 months to more than two years, potentially delaying crucial benefits. The suit was filed Monday by the National Veterans Legal Services Program on behalf of the veterans, who come from across the country.

http://ift.tt/1OyAhoV

Unwittingly Asking Illegal Interview Questions

Job seekers aren't the only ones who may say something inappropriate or botch a question during a job interview. A recent survey by CareerBuilder found that approximately 20 percent of hiring managers reported that they have asked an interview question only to find out later that asking the question possibly violated the law.

http://ift.tt/1Ekd8Hc

EEOC Issues Balanced Interpretation of Legality of Employer Wellness Plans

What does this all mean for employers? Let's take a look, via the helpful Q&A the EEOC published. Several months ago, the EEOC announced its intent to issue regulations interpreting whether employer wellness plans are legal or illegal medical exams under the ADA.

http://ift.tt/1bdCRUv

Wellness program incentives? Better than ObamaCare

Federal regulators said last week that employers can continue to use financial penalties and rewards to promote workplace wellness programs. The Associated Press reports that employers are looking for ways to cut expenses associated with things like chronic illnesses, which can be influenced by lifestyle, not just family history.

http://ift.tt/1cQBpIS

Labor Department Proposes Fiduciary Conflict of Interest Rules - Again

On April 14, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor reissued the long-awaited re-proposal of its regulation expanding the definition of "fiduciary" under the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974, as amended , and prescribing stricter conflict-of-interest rules that will apply to relationships between such fiduciaries and their customers . Along with the proposed regulation, the DOL proposed two related Prohibited Transaction Class Exemptions and amendments to six existing PTCEs that will also apply to relationships between fiduciaries and their retirement plan customers .

http://ift.tt/1cQBpIP

AFOP to Congress: Prohibit Child Labor on U.S. Tobacco Farms

Thursday, April 16, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Representative David Cicilline introduced legislation to protect child workers from the dangers of exposure to tobacco plants, which can include acute nicotine poisoning and other long term health effects. The Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs supports the proposed legislation, and calls on Congress to swiftly pass the bills.

http://ift.tt/1F71e2h

Hyundai Supplier Disputes Safety Allegations, Blames Union

Lear Corp. on Friday said allegations of plant employees' exposure to the hazardous chemical TDI are false. The company says air in the plant has been tested by multiple independent parties.

http://ift.tt/1zCbrxy