The Minnesota Supreme Court recently issued what could turn out to be a significant opinion on the legal standard governing sexual harassment cases under the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA). At issue in Kenneh v. Homeward Bound, Inc. (Minn. 6/3/2020) was whether the requirement that workplace harassment be “severe or pervasive,” adopted from
One of the First COVID-19 Employment Lawsuits Filed in Iowa Alleges Wrongful Discharge in Violation of Public Policy; Will this be the First of Many?
One of the first employment lawsuits related to COVID-19 was filed in Iowa last week. A former Dallas County Jail employee alleges he was fired because he called a Department of Corrections “hotline” to report concerns about working with a colleague infected with the virus. Jail employees were informed one of their co-employees tested positive
Employers Don’t Have to be Perfect: A Termination Based Upon Mistaken Facts is Not Evidence of Discrimination
“Mistakes happen. Including in the context of employment decisions. But not every mistake amounts to actionable employment discrimination.” Smith v. Towne Properties Management Co., Inc. (6th Cir. 3-4-2020).
So stated the Sixth Circuit in affirming the grant of summary judgment to the employer in a FMLA and disability discrimination lawsuit. The plaintiff, Robyn
Relying on Prior Pay in Setting New Employees’ Salary is Increasingly Risky
Many employers use job applications that ask applicants to disclose their salary or wages at prior jobs. Sometimes the question comes up in an interview. Employers have many potential motives for asking the question: perhaps to determine what compensation the applicant will expect if hired; to determine whether the applicant would fit within the position’s
NLRB Finishes 2019 with a Flourish, Correcting Some of the Excesses from the Board’s Activist Era.
As many employers recall with chagrin, the National Labor Relations Board and its General Counsel were very active during the Obama administration, overturning long-established precedent, changing rules in a way that favored unions over employers, and inserting itself into employment issues where the Board traditionally had not acted.
The NLRB, now with a majority
Eighth Circuit Reverses $700k Verdict in Wage and Hour Case based upon Non-Compliance with Scheduling Order
It’s not very often an appellate court takes away a jury verdict because of the trial court’s discretionary ruling to extend a deadline. The case is Petrone v. Werner Enterprises (8th Cir. 10/10/2019). Student drivers for Werner Enterprises brought a FLSA collective action for alleged unpaid wages earned during an eight weeks student-driver training
What Does the Future Hold for EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on the Use of Criminal Background Checks?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a potentially game-changing decision earlier this month on the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on criminal background checks. The case is State of Texas v EEOC (5th Cir. 8/6/2019). An applicant rejected for employment at the Texas Department of Public Safety filed a complaint with
Iowa Supreme Court 2018-2019 Term in Review: Labor and Employment Edition (Part II)
As employment cases go, the 2018–2019 adjudicative term (covered in Part I here) may go down as a year of missed chances. In Hawkins v. Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Patrick Smith wrote in June, the Justices failed to address an emotional-distress award’s excessiveness and the permissibility of a “golden rule” argument used in
Iowa Supreme Court 2018-2019 Term in Review: Labor and Employment Edition (Part I)
The Iowa Supreme Court wrapped up its latest adjudicative term on June 28, 2019, having submitted 113 cases. More remarkable for the changes it witnessed than for its labor and employment decisions, the term began with the Court’s first new Justice since 2011. By term’s end another had been appointed. The Court that completed this
Iowa Supreme Court Reverses $4.5 Million Verdict in Age and Disability Case on Narrow Grounds, Passing Up the Opportunity to Decide Whether Emotional Distress Award was Excessive
In July 2017, a jury in Poweshiek County, Iowa returned a verdict against Grinnell Regional Medical Center (GRMC) for $4.5 million in an age and disability discrimination lawsuit. The Grinnell Regional case was one of a trio of million dollar plus verdicts Iowa juries returned in the spring and summer of 2017 in employment discrimination