discrimination “adverse employment action” Sixth Circuit
Continue Reading Caution: Just Because You Give an Employee What He Wants Does Not Mean He Won’t Sue You For It Later
Another Court Rules Agreement to Arbitrate Employment Disputes is Enforceable
Employers who want to bypass jury trials of employment disputes in favor of arbitration got another boost in a recent case from the Eastern District of Missouri. In Karzon v. AT&T, Inc. (E.D. Mo. 1/7/14), the court ruled that E-mail notification of an arbitration proposal combined with an “opt-put” option was sufficient to bind
Don’t Assume An Applicant Is Not Qualified Because a Doctor Says So…
A federal district court in Michigan recently granted summary judgment for the plaintiff, (you read that correctly), ruling that the employer was liable for disability discrimination as a matter of law. (Lafata v. Dearborn Heights Sch. Dist. No.7 (E.D. Mich. 12/11/2013)). A plaintiff hardly ever files for summary judgment in an employment case, let
Employment Discrimination Lawsuit Against Catholic Diocese of Sioux City Tests the Limits of the Ministerial Exception
The CFO of Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools in Sioux City claims he was terminated because he is not Catholic. He recently sued the Diocese, the school, and the Bishop alleging his termination violated the law against discrimination on the basis of religion. Does he have a case?
Courts in the United States have uniformly recognized
Reinstatement of Jury Award After Employer Victory Shows Failure to Mitigate Defense Hard to Prove
The best outcome to a discrimination lawsuit from the employer’s perspective is to win outright—for the judge or jury to find that the employer did not unlawfully discriminate. But, even if you lose, there is a “Plan B” defense—the failure to mitigate damages. An employee who is terminated (or not hired in the first place)
Employee Must Request Extension of Leave to Avoid Application of No-Fault Leave Policy
Fixed or no-fault leave policies were once considered easy way to manage attendance and long term leave of absence issues. Once the employee reaches the maximum number of absences, or is gone the maximum number of weeks on medical leave, the employee is terminated; no questions asked, no exceptions. The benefit of these kinds of
Court Rules Government Agency Violated Employer’s Due Process Rights in Connection with Whistleblower Investigation
Good news for employers—you have due process rights too. So ruled the court in Business Communications, Inc. v. U.S. Dept. of Education (8th Cir. 12/2/13).
The Federal Government awarded Business Communications, Inc. (BCI) contracts to install cables in two school districts. The money for the project was provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA” a/k/a
U.S. District Court in Iowa Sanctions EEOC…Again
U.S. District Judge Linda Reade has become the scourge of the EEOC. On August 1 Judge Reade entered an order sanctioning EEOC nearly $4.7 million for attorney’s fees and expenses CRST Van Expedited incurred to defend itself against a largely frivolous complaint alleging that as many as 270 female employees were subject to a pattern and
Summer Employment Law Re-Cap
Hard to believe it’s August already. It has been a busy summer in the employment law world while we have been away, and there is a lot to catch up on for Iowa employers. For starters, here is a re-cap of three of the summer’s significant court decisions and one notable but not so significant one. Almost all
Court Finds FMLA Interference Even Though Employee Was Not Qualified to Return to Former Job Because of Her Medical Condition
FMLA provides a qualifying employee up twelve weeks of job protected leave. That means the employee is entitled to return to the same position held before the leave, or to an “equivalent position” with equivalent pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions. FMLA does not require an employer to restore employment if the employee is