A divided panel of the Iowa Court of Appeals recently ruled that the rules of construction in the ADA as amended in 2008 apply to the Iowa Civil RIghts Act when determining what constitutes a disability (Knudsen v. Tiger Tots Community Child Care Center, No. 2-1011, 1/9/13). Although Knudsen is a public accommodation and not an employment case
Litigation and Trials
Critics are Unfairly Attacking the Iowa Supreme Court’s Sex Discrimination Ruling in Nelson v. Knight
By Patrick Smith on
Never has a Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling in an employment dispute generated such strong reaction, not only locally, but internationally. The case, of course, is Nelson v. Knight, the December 21, 2012 ruling involving the Fort Dodge dentist who was irresistibly attracted to one of his dental assistants. Dr. Knight’s wife, who also worked in …
Don’t Forget About the Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies Defense: Eighth Circuit Holds that it Still Applies to Retaliation Claims, Overruling Precedent to the Contrary
By Patrick Smith on
Posted in Litigation and Trials, Title VII
Title VII requires an employee alleging unlawful discrimination or retaliation to file an administrative charge with the EEOC (or a similar a state or local agency with authority to seek relief) before bringing a suit in court. EEOC is charged with investigating claims and pursuing conciliation between the employee and employer where appropriate. The purpose of …
Court Applies “Cat’s Paw” Theory to Liquidated Damages under FMLA
By Patrick Smith on
Posted in FMLA, Litigation and Trials
Under the FMLA, liquidated damages are a form of “extra” damage a court may award over and above other damages an employee is awarded. The employer can avoid liquidated damages, however, if it proves the FMLA violation was in good faith, that is, the employer reasonably believed its action did not violate the FMLA.
Trouble Begets Trouble
By Patrick Smith on
“University of Iowa College of Law” “age discrimination” lawsuit retaliation professor…
Continue Reading Trouble Begets Trouble
Similarly Situated in All Relevant Aspects
By Patrick Smith on
Very seldom is there overt evidence an employer discriminated on the basis of race, sex, disability, etc. Most of the time plaintiff employees have to prove their claim by showing they were treated less favorably than similarly situated employees who were not in the protected class. For example, if there is evidence the employer …
Study Shows Plaintiffs in Employment Cases Win at Trial More Often than Not
By Patrick Smith on
Posted in Litigation and Trials
Two Des Moines lawyers, Karin Johnson and Angela Morales, recently wrote in The Iowa Lawyer about a study their firm conducted of employment law trials in Iowa. With the exception of one county (out of 99), there is very little data available to lawyers on trial outcomes in this state, particularly in employment cases. …
Implicit Bias, Disparate Impact, and Class Actions: Iowa District Court Rules in Favor of the State, but Employers Should Remain Wary.
By Patrick Smith on
Earlier this week Iowa District Court Judge Robert Blink granted judgment for the State of Iowa in a high profile class action race discrimination lawsuit. (Pippen v. State of Iowa, link here). The plaintiffs alleged that 37 departments in the State’s executive branch maintained hiring and promotion practices that had an adverse …
Eighth Circuit Reverses $4.5 Million Sanction Against EEOC
By Patrick Smith on
Two years ago, Judge Linda Reade of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa made headlines when she dismissed an EEOC lawsuit on behalf of 270 current and former female long haul drivers of Cedar Rapids based CRST Van Expedited. What was notable about the decision was not so much the dismissal itself as…
NAACP’s Criticism of Iowa Civil Rights Commission is Misplaced
By Patrick Smith on
Two local branches of the NAACP recently issued a report criticizing the Iowa Civil Rights Commission because of the low percentage of “probable cause” findings in discrimination complaints filed with the agency. Although the report was issued December 31, it was recently publicized in a series of three stories appearing over the course of …