WIRTW #377 (the “…all I ever wanted” edition)
According to Nielsen Consumer Research , over the past year 52% of people did not take all their paid vacation days, leaving an average of 7...
Archive: July 2015
Even lone-wolf activity is concerted, according to NLRB
By Jon Hyman
Bonus post today. We know that the National Labor Relations Act protects employees who engage in protected concerted activity from retaliat...
You need to pay employees if you know, or should know, they are working overtime
By Jon Hyman
Consider Garcia v. SAR Food of Ohio (N.D. Ohio 7/6/15) a cautionary tale. SAR owns and operates food-court Japanese restaurants. The cour...
Retaliation alphabet-soup
By Jon Hyman
Employers typically think of retaliation in terms of the big employment statutes: Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA, the FMLA, and the FLSA. Yet,...
The unintended and unfortunate consequence of wage-and-hour reforms
By Jon Hyman
Wage-and-hour reforms are all the rage. Yet, with reform comes a potential unforeseen price—businesses that simply cannot afford to stay in ...
Happy birthday ADA
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday, the Americans with Disabilities Act turned 25 years old. We've come a long way in the past 25 years, from a statute intended ...
WIRTW #376 (the “…I’ll only disappoint you…” edition)
By Jon Hyman
I thought I’d try something different today by bringing you a musician I’ve recently discovered— Courtney Barnett . She’s a guitar playing,...
Does smoke always equal fire in harassment cases?
By Jon Hyman
Consider the following, taken from Briggs v. University of Detroit-Mercy (E.D. Mich. 5/27/14) , and then let’s talk. Plaintiff Carlos Bri...
It shouldn’t be newsworthy when a court applies “common sense” to resolve a dispute
By Jon Hyman
I’d like to think that after 8-plus years of blogging, I’ve banked some capital as one who offers a common-sense approach to the often craz...
Insubordination or protected conduct? 6th Circuit has the answer.
By Jon Hyman
Is there a line that separates an employee’s insubordinate outburst from an expression of protected conduct? Yazdian v. ConMed Endoscopic T...
EEOC announces that Title VII treats all LGBT discrimination as unlawful sex discrimination
By Jon Hyman
Last week, the EEOC released a historic decision on same-sex employment discrimination rights [pdf] . The EEOC confirmed that, in its opinio...
WIRTW #375 (the “post-it” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Have you heard the one about the intern fired after hiding an offensive message for his employer buried within the stack of post-it notes he...
Who is an employee? DOL has answers in guidance on independent-contractor status
By Jon Hyman
I’ve written a lot in the past year about the distinction between employees and independent contractors under federal wage-and-hour laws ( h...
Recordkeeping policies: how long is too long?
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday we examined a recordkeeping issue specific to potential adverse impact claims under Title VII. Today, I want to cast the net a li...
Are you up on your federal recordkeeping requirements?
By Jon Hyman
The EEOC announced that is has sued a nationwide provider of janitorial and facilities management services for an alleged failure to mainta...
Everything you want to know about the new overtime rules in 3:44
By Jon Hyman
You have to hand it to the Department of Labor. It has gotten creative to spread its message to American workers about the pending changes t...
WIRTW #374 (the “bad choice” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Earlier this week, I came across the following while watching the local morning news: The consumer reporter was demoing an online t-shirt ...
Don’t forget leaves of absence as ADA accommodation
By Jon Hyman
Suppose an employee tells you that she needs time off to undergo surgery for her recently diagnosed breast cancer. Do you? Deny the reques...
Be conscious of inequities when gauging litigation
By Jon Hyman
Four years ago, in Wal-Mart v. Dukes , the U.S. Supreme Court held that it was inappropriate to certify a nationwide class of 1.5 million ...
Ohio’s odd anti-retaliation statute
By Jon Hyman
Ohio’s employment discrimination law has lots of peculiarities that separate it from its federal counterpart—a six-year statute of limitatio...
2nd Circuit becomes 2nd court to toss DOL internship test
By Jon Hyman
Four years ago, the 6th Circuit, in Solis v. Laurelbook Sanitarium and School , rejected the Department of Labor’s six-factored test for de...
WIRTW #373 (the “happy birthday” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Happy birthday Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC turns 50 today . While the agency and I have not always seen eye-to-eye on ...
EEOC updates pregnancy discrimination guidance to embrace accommodations
By Jon Hyman
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Young v. UPS , the EEOC has updated its administrative guidance on pregnancy discrimination....