What can go wrong when employees date?
Since Valentine’s Day will be fast upon us, I thought I’d take a new look at a popular issue this time of year— the office romance . Gerald...
Archive: January 2013
Are employers screwing up the FLSA’s lactation mandate? Probably not.
By Jon Hyman
At Business Insurance , Judy Greenwald quotes an attorney who believes that employers are doing an inadequate job of accommodating employee...
But he looked black… Court rebukes EEOC’s use of “race rating” in systemic lawsuit
By Jon Hyman
According to the EEOC’s draft strategic enforcement plan for 2012 – 2016 , the agency’s number one enforcement priority is ending systemic d...
Employees, if you don’t want us to get your social media info in discovery, don’t post!
By Jon Hyman
In EEOC v. The Original Honeybaked Ham Co. —a hostile environment sexual harassment brought by the EEOC on behalf of 20 female employees—the...
WIRTW #258 (the “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” edition)
By Jon Hyman
This week, the Connecticut General Assembly (hat tip: Dan Schwartz ) introduced Proposed House Bill 5236 , which would create an “Employer’s...
Damn You Auto Correct! (train your employees to proofread)
By Jon Hyman
Do you have employees under the age of 35? If so, the odds are that they communicate with each other with text messages on their mobile devi...
How do you spell civil rights? ENDA
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, the EEOC announced that it has filed a lawsuit against a Charlotte security-services company on behalf of a group of male employ...
Requests for unpaid medical leaves should be stamped, “Handle With Care”
By Jon Hyman
If I had to rank questions I get from clients in order of frequency, questions on medical leaves would be near, if not at the top of, the li...
Something different for MLK Day
By Jon Hyman
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day , celebrating not only the life of Dr. King, but, more importantly, the lessons of inclusion and respect...
WIRTW #257 (the “Lawsuit of the Year?” edition)
By Jon Hyman
The year is young, but we already have a strong candidate for the lawsuit of 2013. Above the Law brings us the story of a teacher who clai...
Say it ain’t so: court holds an employer does not have to accommodate a pregnant employee
By Jon Hyman
Last year, I railed against the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act , a bill that, if passed, would require employers to make a reasonable accommo...
Putting the human back in human resources, redux
By Jon Hyman
As a parent of a child with some medical issues, I am very sensitive to the needs of working parents. Luckily for me, I work at business tha...
Can you hear me now? Employer cannot reject disabled employee without individualized inquiry of the ability to do the job
By Jon Hyman
Nicholas Keith has been deaf since birth. He is also, apparently, a pretty good swimmer. He successfully completed the Oakland County, Mic...
Be careful what you bring upon yourself when suing an ex-employee
By Jon Hyman
Last week—in Quicken Loans,Inc. (1/8/13) [pdf] —an NLRB administrative law judge invalidated the confidentiality and non-disparagement prov...
WIRTW #256 (the “crystal ball” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Last week , I shared the 2013 resolutions of some of my favorite blogs. This week, I’m sharing some employment law predictions for the comin...
Internet-Use Disorder: The Newest Disability?
By Jon Hyman
The DSM-5 , the official psychiatrist’s diagnostic manual, has accepted Internet Use Disorder for inclusion, albeit in a section devoted to ...
What isn’t a reasonable accommodation?
By Jon Hyman
Employers spend a lot time with employees figuring out reasonable accommodations they can make for disabled employees. There are many accomm...
Firing of “irresistible” employee does not equal sex discrimination?
By Jon Hyman
She’s unavoidable, I’m backed against the wall She gives me feelings like I never felt before I’m breaking promises, she’s breaking every l...
Fringe “religions” (veganism?) raise interesting problems for accommodation requests
By Jon Hyman
Like most medical facilities, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital appears to require that all of its employees receive an annual flu shot. It fir...
WIRTW #255 (the “back to the future” edition)
By Jon Hyman
This week’s “WIRTW” is all about looking ahead. On Wednesday, I shared the one New Year’s resolution all employers should make for 2013 . Th...
Lactation rights case teaches valuable lesson on responding to employee complaints
By Jon Hyman
Believing that her employer, Roche Surety & Casualty Co., had deprived her of her right under the Fair Labor Standards Act for a time a...
Your New Year’s resolution: draft a social media policy
By Jon Hyman
Recently, Proskauer Rose published the results of its second survey covering social media in the workplace. Social Media in the Workplace Ar...