(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense
Find a Local Lawyer
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402
Ross' Employment Law Blog 
By Ross Runkel, Professor of Law Emeritus, arbitrator, and editor at LawMemo.Com - First in Employment Law.
Post Frequency: 4.8/day Last Entry: March 29, 2011 at 20:01:45 Recent Entries: 439
Go to Ross' Employment Law Blog, find other Labor & Employment Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
AT&T v Hulteen post-argument brief on Ledbetter Act's effect on Pregnancy Discrimination Act
Posted on February 13, 2009AT&T v. Hulteen was argued at the US Supreme Court on December 10, 2008. [Details] The issue involves the retroactive application of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. What effect will the Lilly Ledbetter Act have on this? The employees in the Hulteen case have filed a new brief...
A poker deck printed with labor laws
Posted on February 12, 2009In Longquan Township in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, there's a job fair to promote the migrant workers' employment. Here's a deck of cards imprinted with labor laws: Photo credit: Xinhua/Peng Tong
Solis will be confirmed as Secretary of Labor
Posted on February 11, 2009Contrary to my earlier prediction, Representative Hilda Solis will be confirmed as Secretary of Labor. The Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted favorably today (two Republicans voting against), so a favorable vote by the full Senate is assured...
Ledbetter Act apply to demotions and promotions?
Posted on February 11, 2009I have previously argued that the Lilly Ledbetter Act would not apply to a decision not to promote an employee. Will the Lilly Ledbetter Act of 2009 really matter? Ask George Jackson. Michael Fox at Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer is sounding the alarm bell, suggesting that judges will indeed apply the Act to decisions on promotion and demotion...
Employee must answer questions without formal grant of immunity
Posted on February 11, 2009Today?s Employment Law Memo tells the story of Thomas Spielbauer, who was a deputy public defender. The boss fired him (in part) for disobeying his employer?s orders to answer questions. Spielbauer thought he should first be given a formal grant of immunity from prosecution...
Restatement of Employment Law: An embarrassment
Posted on February 08, 2009"The proposed Restatement, if passed in its present form, would be an embarrassment to the American Law Institute and would call into questions generally its commitment to accurate scholarship." So says Professor Richard Bales at Workplace Prof Blog. Following a conference on the proposed Restatement of Employment Law, Bales had this to say: Two themes quickly emerged...
Prediction: Taxes will scuttle Solis nomination for Labor Secretary
Posted on February 05, 2009U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis is the President's nominee for Secretary of Labor. Yesterday, Solis' husband paid off about $6,400 worth of tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business. [Article]Let's be clear. These were tax liens arising out of the husband's separately-owned business...
Zodiac sign determines who gets hired
Posted on February 05, 2009Frank Steinberg at New Jersey Employment Law Blog has a story about a company that is hiring only those applicants born under specific zodiac signs. Legal? Frank thinks it is. So do I. But really, does this make sense? Read the whole story: What's Your Sign? Really? You're Hired!
Two 9th Circuit Judges Order Benefits for Same-Sex Spouses of Court Employees
Posted on February 05, 2009Leonard Link reports: In two opinions posted to the website of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on February 4, judges of the court ruling on internal grievances filed by employees of the judicial branch within the 9th Circuit ordered the court administrators to process requests that same-sex spouses of the employees be included in the federal benefits plan governing their employment...
Edward Hugler is Acting Labor Secretary, awaiting Hilda Solis' confirmation
Posted on February 04, 2009Hilda Solis' appointment as Secretary of Labor is being held up in the Senate. The rumor mill says it's the fault of Republicans who are unhappy that she is an outspoken proponent of the Employee Free Choice Act. Well, maybe so, but she will no doubt get confirmed at some point in time...
"Wage controls" for bailed-out executives
Posted on February 04, 2009Bowing to populist demands, the President today announced caps on executive pay for companies that get "exceptional assistance" from the government. My view: (1) Wage caps set a dangerous precedent. (2) Would anybody with the skills to turn-around a giant corporation be willing to work for $500,000? (3) This will play well with those who envy the high earnings of executives, but will not help turn the economy around, and will not help create jobs or preserve jobs...
Added damages to compensate for adverse tax consequences of lump-sum back pay award
Posted on February 04, 2009An employee who wins a discrimination case gets a lump-sum award. Can she get an additional award to make up for the additional taxes she will pay due to getting a lump sum award? Yes, says the 3rd Circuit: Eshelman v. Agere System (3rd Cir 01/30/2009)...
EEOC General Counsel Ronald Cooper Returns To Private Practice
Posted on February 02, 2009EEOC press release, February 2, 2009: WASHINGTON -- Ronald S. Cooper, General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), will return to private law practice after two-and-one-half years leading the agency?s litigation program...
FULL TEXT: Three executive orders relating to federal contractors
Posted on January 31, 2009On January 30, 2009 the President signed three executive orders dealing with federal contractors. Click links for full text of each one. Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws Requires federal contractors to post a notice informing employees that they have a right to join or not to join a union...
President's executive orders on employees of federal contractors
Posted on January 30, 2009The President announced this morning that he will be signing three executive orders relating to federal contractors and their employees. These three executive orders will: Require federal contractors to post a notice informing employees that they have a right to join or not to join a union...
Boston employment lawyers: Conforto Law Group
Posted on January 29, 2009Conforto Law Group is a "boutique" Boston law firm that is devoted exclusively to the representation of employees. LawMemo is pleased that Conforto Law Group has been added to the Employment Law Firm Directory for Massachusetts. Conforto Law Group handles all types of employment law matters, including discrimination based on age, gender, pregnancy, race, disability, and religion...
Oh, that 9th Circuit. Aren't they amusing?
Posted on January 28, 2009A three-judge panel decided that a public employer violated employees' 4th amendment rights by reading personal and sexually explicit text messages sent on employer-issued pagers. Yesterday the whole 9th Circuit denied a petition for an en banc rehearing...
Fisher & Phillips' new office in Louisville, Kentucky
Posted on January 27, 2009Congratulation to Fisher & Phillips upon the opening of a new office in Louisville, Kentucky. LawMemo has added Fisher & Phillips' new office to the Employment Law Firm Directory for Kentucky. Fisher & Phillips LLP was founded in 1943 and is one of the first U...
President to sign Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 on January 29.
Posted on January 27, 2009On January 29 the President is scheduled to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which amends Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA, and the Rehabilitation Act. The Act will re-start the statute of limitation for claims of discrimination in compensation each time wages or benefits are paid, when an individual is affected by a previous discriminatory decision or practice...
Plant closed. Will NLRB order it to re-open?
Posted on January 26, 2009Wild as it may seem, it is just possible that the NLRB will order an employer to re-open a plant that it closed in December. It seems unlikely to me, but not beyond the realm of possibility. George Lenard at George's Employment Blawg has an interesting and entertaining explanation: NLRB to Consider Ordering Shuttered Window & Door Plant Reopened...
Job losses continue with no end in sight
Posted on January 26, 2009This is a recession, folks. During 2008, 2,600,000 jobs were lost. December's unemployment rate hit 7.2 percent. In just the past few days, these job losses have been announced: Microsoft: 5,000 Intel: 6,000 Pfizer: 8,000 Sprint Nextel: 8,000 Home Depot: 7,000 General Motors: 2,000 Caterpillar: 5,000 And there are more I haven't listed, and more to come...
US Supreme Court holds that answering questions during employer's internal investigation is protected against retaliation
Posted on January 26, 2009Crawford v. Metropolitan Govt of Nashville (US Supreme Court 01/26/2008) in a unanimous decision holds that answering questions during employer's internal investigation is protected against Title VII retaliation. Official Syllabus: In response to questions from an official of respondent local government (Metro) during an internal investigation into rumors of sexual harassment by the Metro School District employee relations director (Hughes), petitioner Crawford, a 30-year employee, reported that Hughes had sexually harassed her...
Petitioner's brief in Gross v. FBL Financial
Posted on January 26, 2009The issue before the US Supreme Court is: "Must a plaintiff present direct evidence of discrimination in order to obtain a Mt. Healthy mixed-motive instruction in a non-Title VII discrimination case?" Ever since Congress amended Title VII in the Civil Rights Act of 1991 with the intent of overruling Price-Waterhouse v...
Restrictive covenants, Canada style
Posted on January 24, 2009Yesterday the Supreme Court of Canada decided a restrictive covenant case involving an employer and a former employee. The covenant restricted the former employee from becoming employed in the business of insurance brokerage within the ?Metropolitan City of Vancouver?...
Stuart J. Ishimaru is new Acting Chairman of EEOC
Posted on January 23, 2009The EEOC press release tells the story: PRESIDENT APPOINTS STUART ISHIMARU ACTING EEOC CHAIRMAN, CHRISTINE GRIFFIN NAMED ACTING VICE CHAIR WASHINGTON ? The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that President Barack Obama has appointed Stuart J...
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 awaits President's signature
Posted on January 22, 2009Today the Senate passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. It has already passed the House. It awaits the President's signature. The full text: A BILL To amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and to modify the operation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to clarify that a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice that is unlawful under such Acts occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to the discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, and for other purposes...
Wilma B. Liebman is new Chairman of the NLRB
Posted on January 22, 2009President Obama designated Wilma B. Liebman to be Chairman of the NLRB on January 22, 2009. Wilma B. Liebman has served as a Member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) since November 14, 1997. She was first appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate to a five-year term that expired on December 16, 2002...
Cat's Paw - A new approach is suggested
Posted on January 22, 2009Professor Stephen F. Befort of the University of Minnesota Law School and Alison L. Olig of Best & Flanagan LLP are proposing a whole new analytical approach to the cat's paw issue - subordinate bias liability under antidiscrimination statutes. Their article is Within the Grasp of the Cat's Paw: Delineating the Scope of Subordinate Bias Liability Under Federal Antidiscrimination Statutes, 60 South Carolina Law Review ___ (2009)...
Supreme Court allows local union to charge non-members for national litigation expenses
Posted on January 21, 2009Locke v. Karass (US Supreme Court 01/21/2009) Official syllabus: The collective-bargaining agreement between Maine and respondent local union, the exclusive bargaining agent for certain state employees, requires nonmember employees represented by the union to pay the local a "service fee" equal to the portion of union dues related to ordinary representational activities, e...
Locke v. Karass: Moderation at the Supreme Court
Posted on January 21, 2009A public sector local union collects a service fee from non-member employees, and sends some of that money to its national affiliate to be spent on litigation. The non-members objected, and the US Supreme Court today unanimously rejected the non-members' complaint...
Previous | Next
USCIS Expands Premium Processing to Employment Based 3rd Preference Category
On August 18, 2006 the United States Citizenship and Immigration S...
Employment-Based Visa Retrogression - How Does It Effect You?
Cause-effect is defined by Webster’s dictionary as, “the conce...
British Employment Discrimination Amendment About To Become Effective
An amendment to the definition of "religion or belief" in Britain'...
Employment Authorization Document -- What Is It?
What is an Employment Authorization Document?Employment Authorizat...
New Baptist Covenant Blog
Last week, I pointed to the New Baptist Convenant website, now onl...
Employment Contracts
General Contract Law Principles
Can a former employee use photographs of jobs completed whie working for me in marketing material for a new business?
There are several issues here
1. Sub contractor started up a compe...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
I was fired on June 3, 2002 in Massachusetts because I reported discriminatory behavior by the employer towards a particular nationality. In July I filed a discrimination/retaliation complaint against the employer with t
It seem sin your case that the fact you filed the complaint prior to being dissa...
How can an employer defend themselves for firing an employee who contends the company exposed him to hazardardous atmospheres although medical testing has been negative?
You'll need to contact OSHA to determine your responsibility as far as the work ...
Does failure to provide health insurance benefits at the time promised constitute harm to the employee?
Yes. Failure to provide health insurance benefits is a violation of Labor Law ob...
#1 Online Legal Resource
On 08-25 at 15:46PM
Acute perpendicular parking #NYPD #NYFD
On 08-18 at 22:18PM
Parallel parking gone bad. Too much gas UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:41PM
UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:25PM
Twitter suspends journalist critical of broadcast partner's coverage on dubious grounds @guyadams #nbcfail #twitterfail
On 07-30 at 17:57PM
Model example of 1st Amendment suppression by the People of New York City's Michael Bloomberg #OWS #NYPD
On 07-12 at 21:07PM
AG Holder lackadaisical on Operation in our Sites domain name seizures & RIAA lobbied free speech suppression @dajaz1
On 06-08 at 22:44PM
Why is the Catholic Church going to court over Obama contraception policy? @NewYorker commentary
On 05-31 at 10:08AM
Monks sue Louisiana for right to sell caskets made from forrest destroyed by Katrina
On 05-31 at 07:47AM
Are the abortion ultrasound laws headed for the Supreme Court?
On 05-15 at 21:52PM
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Equal Employment Opportunity Act
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Can a former employee use photographs of jobs completed whie working for me in marketing material for a new business?
There are several issues here
1. Sub contractor started up a compe...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
I was fired on June 3, 2002 in Massachusetts because I reported discriminatory behavior by the employer towards a particular nationality. In July I filed a discrimination/retaliation complaint against the employer with t
It seem sin your case that the fact you filed the complaint prior to being dissa...
How can an employer defend themselves for firing an employee who contends the company exposed him to hazardardous atmospheres although medical testing has been negative?
You'll need to contact OSHA to determine your responsibility as far as the work ...
Does failure to provide health insurance benefits at the time promised constitute harm to the employee?
Yes. Failure to provide health insurance benefits is a violation of Labor Law ob...
 |
|
Contact Us | About Us | Celebrity Law Blog |
Our Partners | Disclaimer
| Law Blog Directory
| Law Jobs
| Law Tweets
| GoDaddy Hosting
All original material � 1999-2011 by USLaw.com. |