Sometimes employers become conditioned to believing that an employee who has recently used FMLA leave is effectively immune from discipline or discharge. It is no doubt true this employee presents a heightened litigation risk, but when the adverse action is handled properly the employer can mitigate that risk or at least make the potential claim
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
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
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
Supreme Court to Hear Three Employment Cases This Term.
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court kicked off its 2010-2011 term. There are at least three cases this term of interest to employment lawyers. The Delaware Employment Law Blog had three excellent postings (here, here, and here) analyzing the cases in some detail. All three cases address important questions concerning the scope
It’s Official: Retaliation Claims Increase
EEOC statistics for the year ended September 30, 2008, the most recent data that is available, show that charges of retaliation increased by 23% compared to the prior year. In addition, more than 1/3 of the charges filed with the Agency allege retaliation as one of the claims. According to this article in The Wall
Weekly Web Roundup: October 2, 2009
More signs this week that the federal government is ramping up enforcement of employment laws. The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is seeking a $22 million budget increase for 2010, and is seeking to hire 50 new attorneys. Law Memo Employment Law Blog reports that the 
EEOC has been very active recently in filing lawsuits. The Agency filed 32
LinkedIn and Lawsuits–Should You Be Concerned?
There is an interesting debate occurring in the legal blogosphere concerning LinkedIn, a popular business social networking site. It started with an article a couple of weeks ago in the National Law Journal, where management side lawyers were quoted giving warnings about the dangers of using LinkedIn to provide recommendations to current or