Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer: Labor & Employment Law

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Labor & Employment Law

Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer

By an experienced Texas Labor and Employment Lawyer.
By Michael W. Fox, Esq.

Post Frequency: 3.1/day

Last Entry: February 03, 2020 at 15:08:00

MDV's Not on Vacation - Connecticut Newspaper Organization Takes a Hit

Posted on July 25, 2008
Maybe it's the dog days of summer, but something certainly got under a Connecticut federal jury's skin as reported by the Connecticut Post, Journal Register loses $4m lawsuit .It was a manager at the call center for the parent company of the New Haven paper who was the plaintiff...

Free Government Advice from the EEOC, NLRB and the DOL

Posted on July 24, 2008
You can agree or disagree with it, but it is always helpful to know what the regulators think.Tuesday, the EEOC published its updated Compliance Manual section on Religious Discrimination. Just as a reminder as to how broad religious discrimination can be, the definition of religion used by the EEOC is: Religion is very broadly defined under Title VII...

FMLA Coverage by Estoppel - Via State Law Claims

Posted on July 16, 2008
I have posted before about the dangers of creating coverage by estoppel relying in part on the Supreme Court decision in Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp. See The Progeny of Arbaugh and Danger for the Small Employer.Without mentioning Arbaugh, the 7th Circuit points out that there are state court theories that could result in coverage under the FMLA...

6 Years, 1800 Posts and How the World Has Changed

Posted on July 16, 2008
Not a lot has changed with Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer since my first post 6 years ago today. 1,800 posts later, I still post on blogspot, I still use the free version of blogger, and I still use an outmoded and limited version of blogroll. But one thing that has definitely changed are the people who have joined me in this small, but hopefully interesting part of the blogosphere...

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Retaliation, Whistleblowing and Preemption - The Texas Supreme Court Chooses

Posted on July 11, 2008
Although the specific result is that the employee loses, today's Texas Supreme Court's opinion in City of Waco v. Lopez (Tx 7.11.08) (pdf) has something for both sides of the docket. The factual pattern is straight forward. Lopez, a city employee filed an internal grievance complaining a transfer was because of his age and race...

The (Not Very Well) Hidden Cost of Litigation

Posted on July 11, 2008
There is nothing so confirming as seeing someone else quoted in print making a point that you yourself have made. Even better when that person is well known. So I was pleased to find this quote from Stanley Chesley in a Law Practice Management article, Ohio Law Firm Switches to Success-Fee Billing...

What's the Real Story on E-Verify?

Posted on July 10, 2008
Given that we seem to be heading towards greater use, both by executive order that all government contractors use it, and various state statutes mandating it, it is an important question. I was curious to see this post at the NAM's blog challenging some of the promotion of E-Verify by Secretary Chertoff, see E-Verify, E-gads...

Denver MDV Award - a "Termination Plus" Plaintiff

Posted on July 08, 2008
I nicked the phrase "termination plus" from Jeff Londa, one of my fellow shareholders, to refer to a plaintiff that presents more than the usual amount of danger because of additional circumstances. The lead to the story in The Rocky Mountain News, Jury awards $1...

A Declaration of Independence but the World Grows Smaller

Posted on July 04, 2008
I think Daniel Schwartz at The Connecticut Employment Law Blog has the right approach in his post, Happy July 4th.But even though this is not one of those holidays that has any particular employment law tie or angle, I couldn't help think about the full circle type connection between the independence from European influences that we celebrate today and the announcement earlier this week of The First Global Union, as reported by Jeffrey Hirsch at Workplace Prof Blog...

Keeping Data Submitted to EEOC Confidential - Easier Now?

Posted on July 02, 2008
One of the worries about submitting information to agencies investigating workplace issues is the risk that it will be released to an employer's detriment. While the worry is real, the ability to get much judicial guidance is limited as it takes a unique set of circumstances for it to happen...

Compromise on Capitol Hill -- Coming Soon

Posted on June 18, 2008
When you see these names listed together, what do you think?American Association of People with DisabilitiesAmerican Diabetes AssociationBazelon Center for Mental Health LawEpilepsy FoundationHR Policy AssociationInternational Franchise AssociationLeadership Conference on Civil RightsNational Association of ManufacturersNational Disability Rights NetworkNational Council on Independent LivingNational Restaurant AssociationSociety for Human Resource ManagementU...

5th Circuit Limits "Associational Rights" Under the FMLA

Posted on June 09, 2008
There has been a recent spate of activity about associational rights under various statutes, with most of them taking a relatively broad view of expanding protection for those who have been discriminated/retaliated against because of their association with an employee who had a substantive claim...

Ads, News Stories -- the Employee Free Choice Act is Serious Business

Posted on June 08, 2008
Although it made a short lived run in this Congress, the improperly named Employee Free Choice Act, will quite likely be in the headlines on a regular basis next January and February. Although clearly it depends on the outcome of the election, my guess is that there will be an attempt to get it to the new President's desk as quickly as the Family Medical Leave Act made it to President Clinton's...

This Can't Be Good for the Workplace

Posted on June 08, 2008
This lead from a CNN story, Why some folks get a loan workout and others don't caught my attention:More than 3,000 times daily, struggling homeowners call the foreclosure Help Hotline for advice on how to save their homes.There is no question that pressures at home often carry over into work...

5th Circuit View on Retaliation Under the FLSA

Posted on June 05, 2008
No question that FLSA is the hot topic labor and employment circles these days, although most of that attention is focused on collective actions. Last week, the 5th Circuit took up another area, one of those rare cases of "first impression" -- what constitutes retaliation under the "complaint" portion of the anti-retaliation statute in the FLSA...

Make That Retaliation Three, Employers Zero - Another MDV

Posted on May 28, 2008
Although chronologically the verdict came before the two Supreme Court decisions I mentioned yesterday, I just read this Boston Globe headline this morning, Ex-Cambridge city worker is awarded $4.5m in suit. A good reminder on the heels of the Supreme Court decisions, as if we needed one, that retaliation cases carry great weight with juries...

Supreme Court Scoreboard: Retaliation 2, Employers 0

Posted on May 27, 2008
Today the Supreme Court issued two employment related decisions -- holding that there is a cause of action for retaliation under 42 USC � 1981, CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphrey (S.Ct. 5/27/08) and that federal employees who claim age discrimination are also protected against retaliation for doing so, Gomez v...

Hello GINA: Our Newest Friend

Posted on May 22, 2008
As an employment law blog, it seems almost mandatory that I post about the newest labor and employment law, which would be the Genetic Information Nondisclosure Act, signed into law by President Bush yesterday. For some reason I can't get excited about it...

A Belated Happy Blog Anniversary

Posted on May 20, 2008
I am late, but five years of doing this is a remarkable accomplishment. Hat's off to Michael Fitzgibbon at Thoughts from a Management Lawyer.

If It's Wednesday, Watch Your Eyes

Posted on May 20, 2008
I am finally catching up on some of the stories I wasn't reading while on vacation, and here's another one, very timely if you're reading this on Wednesday, even though it was posted two weeks ago. It's from the good folks at Lynch Ryan their blog, Workers' Comp Insider: Eye safety and eye health on the job...

There is FMLA Expansion and Then There Is FMLA Expansion

Posted on May 20, 2008
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am doing a speech at the SHRM national convention on the potential impact of the 2008 elections. One of the areas I will be covering is possible expansion of the FMLA. But those bills are pikers compared to what was offered in the Connecticut legislature...

Bush Era Ending Sooner Than You Think

Posted on May 19, 2008
At least from an administrative standpoint. Although one of the Bush countdown timers shows 246 days as of this writing, a memorandum from his Chief of Staff Josh Bolton sent to the heads of federal agencies sets an earlier end point for administrative regulations...

Heat A Few Steps Closer in Georgia

Posted on May 19, 2008
That's heat, as in "packing heat" as Georgia becomes the latest state to allow licensed gunholders to bring their guns with them to an employer's parking lot. The Business Security and Employee Privacy Act which passed both Houses of the Georgia legislature was signed on May 16 by Governor Perdue.

City of Brotherly Love? Not Always, At Least Not in the Police Department

Posted on May 19, 2008
When former Philadelphia Mayor, now Pennsylvania Governor, Ed Rendell was quoted as saying that some voters might not be ready to vote for a black candidate before the Keystone state's Democratic primary, some just thought it a bit of a political gaffe, but it may have been he just had some extraordinary insight based on his past experiences...

So Many MDV's; So Few Posts

Posted on May 13, 2008
Although posting has been skimpy in general recently, I have been particularly lax on reporting on million dollar verdicts. Unfortunately, it is not that they have gone away, I just have not been a good reporter.Perhaps I will catch up with them in the coming weeks as well as do updates on some that I have written about earlier...

Unintended Consequences; Maybe Not

Posted on May 13, 2008
Last Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court agreed with a lower appellate court that a 2004 amendment to the Michigan Constitution barred governments and state colleges from providing benefits to same sex partners of its employees. National Pride at Work Inc...

Posting Holiday

Posted on April 17, 2008
Getting ready for vacation is time consuming and impacts negatively on posting as my recent (lack of) efforts have shown. However, now that I am actually on holiday, unless there is a rare combination of inspiration, energy and internet (highly unlikely), it will be May 4th when I return before there is likely to be any posts...

Two Good Reminders: OFCCP and Testing

Posted on April 14, 2008
In the list of things to worry about, sometimes it's easy for certain acts or agencies to slip one's mind. If you are a government contractor and thus have duties under Executive Order 11246, one agency that should not slip too far away is the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs...

Bullying Indiana Style Makes a (Limited) Comeback

Posted on April 08, 2008
Readers will know that in my ongoing campaign about the dangers of adoption of a "bullying" cause of action, one case that attracted considerable attention was that of a cardiac surgeon who was accused of being a workplace bully when he charged and yelled at a perfusionist (the fellow who operates the heart/lung machine during open heart surgery)...

New Web Site for HR Lawyer's Blog

Posted on March 21, 2008
Congratulations to Chris McKinney at HR Lawyer's Blog, who is still physically located 80 miles down the road in San Antonio, but now relocated in the blogosphere at his recently re-designed website.

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