It shouldn’t be newsworthy when a court applies “common sense” to resolve a dispute
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....
Obama to announce new overtime regulations, but will they really matter?
By Jon Hyman
Last night, on the Huffington Post , President Obama blogged his intentions to announce long-awaited new overtime regulations later today. ...
Equal in love, but not yet equal at work—the next frontier of LGBT rights
By Jon Hyman
Friday was certainly exciting. SCOTUS surprised everyone by releasing Obergefell v. Hodges [pdf] a day earlier than expected. In case you...
My appearance on Stossel, now live on the Internet.
By Jon Hyman
Special bonus on this fine summer Friday. If you missed my appearance on Stossel two weeks ago, Fox Business has posted the episode on its ...
WIRTW #372 (the “bad work day” edition)
By Jon Hyman
Next time you think you had a bad day at work, remember, at least you weren’t hit with an axe. From Mediate : During last Sunday’s broad...
A lesson in how NOT to respond to a harassment complaint
By Jon Hyman
Diana Retuerto worked in the office of Berea Moving & Storage. She claimed that the company’s owner, Willard Melton, made “verbal advanc...
Yes, GINA covers cheek swabs, even ones to uncover employee misconduct
By Jon Hyman
I’ve always said that employment law is a dirty job, and this case more than proves my point. Atlas Logistics Group, a Georgia food-storag...
Just because lone acts of harassment aren’t always actionable doesn’t mean you should ignore them
By Jon Hyman
By now, you’ve likely heard of the furor over the Confederate flag following the horrific church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina. You...
What’s next for Uber after independent-contractor loss?
By Jon Hyman
In March, I reported on a lawsuit filed against Uber by a class of its drivers claiming that the taxi company mis-classified them as indepen...
WIRTW #371 (the “no more pencils…” edition)
By Jon Hyman
I love school. I mean, I loved school when I was a student, but now that I work, and my wife works, I really love when my kids are in school...
Get in the zone … the no-blacks zone
By Jon Hyman
Does Title VII permit an employer to staff its stores based on the racial composition of its customers? That’s the question at the heart of ...
The “duck” test for independent contractors
By Jon Hyman
Earlier this week, FedEx announced that it would pay an astounding $228 million to settle claims that it had misclassified drivers as indep...
Legal marijuana remains off-limits in the workplace
By Jon Hyman
It is likely that when Ohioans go the polls this November, we will have the opportunity to vote on whether to amend our state constitution t...