’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.

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’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.