“OK Boomer” makes its Supreme Court debut

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Babb v. Wilkie, which will decide whether the “but-for” causation standard of proof applicable to private-sector employees in age discrimination claims under the ADEA also applies to federal-sector agency employees.

Even for this employment-law geek, not the most scintillating of cases.

That is, until Chief Justice Roberts (a Boomer) posed this question to the plaintiff’s counsel during oral argument:

Frivolous litigation has a price … sometimes a big price

In 2005, Monika Starke filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC alleging that her employer, CRST Van Expedited, Inc., subjected her to sexual harassment. The EEOC expanded that initial charge into a federal-court lawsuit over whether CRST engaged in sexual harassment against myriad of its female driver trainees.

What followed was 14 years of litigation, several trips to the court of appeals, one trip to the U.S. Supreme Court, and an attorney-fee award of over $3.3 million against the EEOC for frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless conduct in the filing and prosecution of the underlying claims.

DOL provides employers much needed clarity on joint employment

Joint employment is a legal theory in which the operations of two employers are so intertwined that each is legally responsible for the misdeeds (and the liabilities that flow from those misdeeds) of the other. It’s also a legal theory with which federal agencies and courts have struggled over the past several years.

CBS News misrepresents an employer’s obligation to accommodate an employee’s pregnancy

I watched with great interest yesterday story on CBS Sunday Morning about an employer’s obligation to accommodate an employee’s pregnancy. The report told the stories of various women who lost their jobs because their employers refused to reasonably accommodate their pregnancies, all in the context of a call to pass a federal law mandating reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers.

According to CBS News: “[U]nder the current federal law, while employers are prohibited from firing or refusing to hire pregnant workers, they aren’t always required to make any on-the-job accommodations, such as offering more bathroom breaks or temporary desk jobs.”

That statement, however, distorts and undersells the current state of the law.

WIRTW #582 (the “Rock Off” edition)

On Feb. 1, my daughter's band, Fake ID, will compete in the 2020 Tri-C High School Rock Off. The Rock Off is in its 24th year and is one of the biggest (and most prestigious) competitions for high school rock bands anywhere.

Tickets are only $10, include full access to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (where the event is held, and usually a $28 admission ticket on its own), and help support the band you buy them from. Email me if you'd like tickets.

Here's what I read this week.

Ohio legislature refuses to move on LGBTQ employment protections despite strong state-wide, bipartisan support to the contrary

There is no law in the state of Ohio that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Ohio Fairness Act—otherwise known as House Bill 369 and Senate Bill 11—seeks to change this legal abomination.

The 2nd nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … the uncaring chief

Three posts into 2020 and we already have our second nominee for the year’s worst employer. And this one is just plain awful.

From Salt Lake City’s Fox 13 News:

A mother is filing a lawsuit against a Salt Lake City-based company after she claims they fired her once they learned her son had cancer. 

Federal appeals court orders NLRB to determine whether workplace harassment laws trump the National Labor Relations Act

You might recall Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood, a 2018 NLRB case in which the Board held that offensive graffiti scrawled on an employee’s timesheet (“whore board”) constituted a lawful exercise of protected concerted activity.

Recently, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the NLRB shirked its responsibility by not considering addressing any alleged conflict between its interpretation of the NLRA and the Company’s obligations under state and federal equal employment opportunity laws to maintain a harassment-free workplace.

The 1st nominee for the “worst employer of 2020” is … the repeat, repeat offender

If there’s a better way of starting 2020 than with the first nominee for the year’s worst employer, I’m not sure what it is.

Meet Dru DiSilvestro, the manager at an electrical contractor in Elmer, NJ, accused of sexually harassing Kimberly North, a 23-year-old employee, while in the midst of litigation brought by another employee accusing DiSilvestro of flashing his penis and leaving a dildo on her desk. And that wasn’t even the first lawsuit accusing DiSilvestro of harassment. His employer settled another even earlier suit accusing him of sexually crude language.

’Twas the Employment Law Night Before Christmas

In what will become an annual tradition for my last post of the year, I bring you the holiday classic, ’Twas the Employment Law Night before Christmas.

To all of my readers, thank you for a great 2019.
I’ll see everyone on January 6, 2020, with fresh content to kick off the new year.

---

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the office
Not a creature was stirring, well, just one of the bosses;
The bonuses were paid by the company with care,
In hopes that no ungrateful employees would swear.

WIRTW #581 (the “home invasion” edition)

“A Day in the Life,” by (Not) The Beatles

Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a Bic across my head
Found my way downstairs to make a cup
And looking up I noticed…
there were three elderly Asian people in my kitchen!

This actually happened to me Monday morning. And technically, it was two elderly Asian people in my kitchen and one in my bathroom. 

I had accidentally left the garage door open the night before, and they had accidentally wandered into the wrong house. After a lot of dog barking, and yelling, and confusion, they wandered out into the early morning darkness. I have no idea who they were, where they came from, or where they went. It was most definitely the strangest morning of my life, and maybe the strangest home invasion of all time.

Here’s what I read this week.

NLRB rolls back 2 key Obama era anti-management decisions

This week, the National Labor Relations Board decided two cases that rolled back key Obama era anti-management NLRB decisions.

• Apogee Retail LLC d/b/a Unique Thrift Store, which overturned Banner Estrella Medical Center and held that work rules requiring confidentiality during the course of workplace investigations are presumptively lawful.

• Caesars Entertainment d/b/a/ Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, which overturned Purple Communications and held that an employer can lawfully restrict employee use of its email system as long as it does so on a nondiscriminatory basis.

The Worst Employer of 2019 is…

After a year of gathering 20 very worthy nominees, whittling it down to 10 awful finalists, and compiling hundreds upon hundreds of your votes, today is the day to declare the Worst Employer of 2019.

While all of the year’s nominees were worthy adversaries, the winner truly stood head and shoulders above the competition. But, before naming the winner, let’s count down the non-winners.

Don’t forget to vote: Polls close at 11 pm tonight for the Worst Employer of 2019

If you haven’t yet voted for the Worst Employer of 2019, time is running out. Polls close at 11 pm tonight.

VOTE here

And come back tomorrow when I’ll announce the very worthy winner.

Do you know when you can collect employees’ genetic information?

Apple recently announced it will begin offering its employees free genetic testing through its subsidiary, AC Wellness (an entity Apple created last year to provide primary care services exclusively to its employees and their dependents).

According to CNBC, Apple is trying to move health care at its employee clinics “from reactive to proactive, as genetic tests can offer a window into health risks down the line. In some cases, patients can take preventative steps to reduce their likelihood of getting a disease.”

Medical experts have also speculated that this program could help Apple quietly test new products or ideas without risking leaks. And this is where my employment law Spidey sense starts tingling.

Court finds that the ADA does not protect employee’s dormant genetic condition

Sherryl Darby has the BRCA1 gene, otherwise known as the breast cancer gene, the best known gene associated with breast-cancer risk. Approximately two months after she started working as an administrative assistant at Childvine, an early childcare provider, Darby opted to have a double mastectomy to decrease her risk of developing breast cancer in the future. Two weeks later, Childvine fired her.

Despite the close-in-time link between Darby’s surgery and her termination, the district court dismissed her ADA lawsuit.

WIRTW #580 (the “I voted” edition)

Have you cast your ballot for the Worst Employer of 2019? Time is running short. The polls close Tuesday, December 17, at 11 pm.

VOTE here

Once you’ve voted, please download your official Ohio Employer Law Blog “I voted for the Worst Employer of 2019” badge and share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Please tag your post with #worstemployer2019 so that I can more easily find it and feel the love.

And don’t forget to return on December 18 when I’ll announce this year’s big winner (or loser, depending on how you look at it).

Here’s what I read this week.

Just because you’re out on FMLA does not grant you a license to threaten your co-workers

“Hey pussy … I’m going to get you for what you did.”

Ordinarily, if one employee confronts another employee with a threat like the one above, you’d consider it grounds for termination. Maurice Darby, however, claimed that the fact that he made the threat while out on FMLA leave constituted grounds for retaliation after his employer terminated him.

The 4 things you cannot do to pro-union employees (hint: number 1 is fire them)

Four former Google employees claim that their ex-employer fired them Thanksgiving week in retaliation for their efforts to organize a labor union. According to CNBC, the NLRB is now investigating the firings. For its part, Google denies that anti-union animus played any roll in the firings.

We dismissed four individuals who were engaged in intentional and often repeated violations of our longstanding data security policies, including systematically accessing and disseminating other employees’ materials and work. No one has been dismissed for raising concerns or debating the company’s activities.

VOTE NOW for the “Worst Employer of 2019” — polls are open

All year long, I’ve been sharing examples of the worst employers in America. My goal? Compile them at the end of the year and then turn it over to you, my readers, to pick the worst of the worst.

Today is your opportunity to help pick the Worst Employer of 2019.

I’ve narrowed this year’s preliminary list down to my choice for the top 10 naughty employers.

Voting will take from today until December 17, at 11 pm. You will be able to vote for up to 3 choices.

I will then tally the votes, and, announce the highest recipient as the very worthy winner of the Worst Employer of 2019.

Vote, share this post with your friends, colleagues, and social networks, and, most importantly, learn something from the mistakes of these 10 very worthy, and cringy, nominees.