The 12 Days of Employment-Law Christmas
This time last year, I published a song, “The 12 Days of Employment Law Christmas.” In the last year, though, I’ve gained a lot of new reade...
Archive: December 2013
WIRTW #301 (the “shattered dreams” edition)
By Jon Hyman
When I was 9 years old, I ruined Christmas for a neighbor when I spilled the beans that Santa Claus wasn’t real. I still feel bad about it t...
Accuracy counts in drafting job descriptions (a lesson on ADA reasonable accommodations)
By Jon Hyman
Do you have written job descriptions for all of your employees? Henschel v. Clare County Road Commission (6th Cir. 12/13/13) illustrates t...
FAMILY Act would provide paid leave for employees
By Jon Hyman
Tony Soprano once said, “Family: they’re the only ones you can depend on.” If Congressional Democrats get their wish, American workers will ...
Does the ADA cover organ donors?
By Jon Hyman
Every now and again I come across a case that offends my sensibilities. Rope v. Auto-Chlor Sys. of Wash., Inc. (Cal. Ct. App. 10/16/13) is...
Is infertility fertile grounds for disability discrimination claims?
By Jon Hyman
I’ve written before about employers getting themselves in trouble for pregnancy discrimination for firing employees while undergoing fertili...
WIRTW #300 (the “300th” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Like a Spartan soldier raging into battle against the army of the Persian King Xerxes, I have ripped through 300 of these end-of-week compi...
A Festivus for the rest of us (at work)
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, Evil Skippy at Work answered a reader’s question about whether an employer can prevent its employees from celebrating Festivus i...
Is social media a valid vehicle for harassment complaints?
By Jon Hyman
A nuclear-medicine technician posted the following three items on her Facebook wall: (At 9:00 am) Sara DeBord loves it when my boss adds a...
If you’re taking an employee’s deposition, don’t charge them for a day off work
By Jon Hyman
Today’s blog post is a multiple-choice quiz. An employee takes a day off work to attend his own deposition, which you are taking in defense...
Medical marijuana and the Americans with Disabilities Act
By Jon Hyman
Bailey v. Real Time Staffing Servs. (6th Cir. 10/29/13) involves an employee fired for a positive random drug test for marijuana. Unknown ...
WIRTW #299 (the “Yuletide confessions” edition)
By Jon Hyman
I have confession to make. I’m a Jew who loves Christmas. I knew it from an early age. We’d leave temple on a December Friday night and swin...
When an extended leave of absence is NOT a reasonable accommodation
By Jon Hyman
Conventional wisdom says that when a sick or injured employee asks for time off, you should grant it within reason . For one, the EEOC says ...
5th Circuit upholds legality of class action arbitration waivers
By Jon Hyman
D.R. Horton v. NLRB [pdf] concerns whether, under the National Labor Relations Act, an employer can enforce against its employees an arbit...
Don’t be a jughead by thinking that white men aren’t a protected class
By Jon Hyman
A group of male employees of Archie Comics filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against their employer. They allege, among other things, th...
Sometimes, employees get what they deserve
By Jon Hyman
At 10:35 Saturday morning, I was stopped at an intersection on my way home from dropping my daughter off at her band rehearsal. From the pas...