2013

NEW YORK CITY PROHIBITS HIRING DECISIONS BASED ON UNEMPLOYMENT STATUS

Workplace Discrimination /

Overriding a veto from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the New York City Council has passed a bill amending the New York City Human Rights law to prohibit employment decisions based on an applicant’s ”unemployment” status.  In addition, the bill also prohibits employers from posting job listings that list current employment as a prerequisite for any job.  […]

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FACEBOOK POSTINGS AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA MAY BE PROTECTED ACTIVITY, ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

Personnel Policies, Social Media /

In a series of recent rulings and advisories, labor regulators have declared some terminations relating to social media communications, as well as certain social media policy restrictions, to be unlawful. In a decision with potential major repercussions, the National Labor Relations Board  (NLRB) recently considered an employer’s termination of five employees who posted comments on

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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION SANCTIONED BY COURT FOR FAILING TO PRODUCE SOCIAL MEDIA EVIDENCE

Litigation, Social Media /

In EEOC v. Original Honey Baked Ham Company of Georgia, Inc., which is presently being heard in federal court in Colorado, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) commenced a lawsuit on behalf of a class of current and former employees asserting sexual harassment and retaliation.  During discovery, the employer requested the class members’ social media

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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION CRACKING DOWN ON UNNECESSARILY BROAD CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS

Workplace Discrimination /

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been pursuing employers whom it believes overstep legal boundaries when conducting criminal background checks.  This is a cause for concern for employers, since an estimated ninety-two (92%) percent of organizations conduct criminal background checks on their applicants. Two recent settlements make it clear that if your company has

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CHRONIC ILLNESSES AS DISABILITIES

Disability Discrimination, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Workplace Discrimination /

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently obtained a $50,000 settlement on behalf of an employee for America’s Thrift Stores of Alabama who allegedly was refused a reasonable accommodation and fired because of her chronic illness, degenerative joint disease. The EEOC claimed that the employee had a good work record, but once she requested accommodations

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FORMER EMPLOYEE ASSERTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE ORDERED TO PRODUCE PRIVATE SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

Litigation, Workplace Discrimination, Workplace Harrasment /

A Brooklyn Federal Court Judge recently ordered a employee who is suing her former employer for sexual harassment to produce, as part of that litigation, certain social media communications and photographs. In Reid v. Ingerman Smith, the former employee is alleging that she was sexually harassed at her former workplace, which is a Long Island

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OBAMA ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS A COMPROMISE PLAN ON CONTRACEPTION COVERAGE IN HEALTH CARE REFORM LAW

Health Care /

The Obama Administration released a proposed compromise plan on February 1, 2013 regarding how contraception will be covered under the healthcare reform law. Under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, contraception is included as a free preventative service.  Under the original rule, religious groups that employ mostly people of their own faith were exempt from this

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ON THE 20th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FMLA), NEW SURVEY SHOWS THE LAW’S USE AND IMPACT

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) /

The United States Department of Labor has released a survey on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) undertaken in 2012 in observance of the 20th anniversary of the law’s signing. The survey, which included both employees and worksites, follows two previous assessments, conducted in in 1995 and 2000.  The following are the survey’s key

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THREE RESTAURANTS IN NASSAU AND WESTCHESTER COUNTIES ORDERED BY UNITED STATES’ DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TO PAY OVER $1 MILLION TO 225 UNDERPAID EMPLOYEES

Wage and Hour Issues /

A chain of three full-service restaurants in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and their president, will pay $1,085,752 in back wages, interest and liquidated damages to 255 employees, according to the terms of consent judgments obtained in federal court by the United States Department of Labor.  Asian Moon Restaurant of Massapequa Park Inc., Asian Moon Restaurant

THREE RESTAURANTS IN NASSAU AND WESTCHESTER COUNTIES ORDERED BY UNITED STATES’ DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TO PAY OVER $1 MILLION TO 225 UNDERPAID EMPLOYEES Read More »