June 1, 2008

• Supreme Court Refuses to Review Age Discrimination Case Involving Retirees' Health Benefits

  The Supreme Court recently rejected a legal challenge from AARP, which contended that employers that reduce health benefits for former employees who become eligible for Medicare violate age discrimination laws.
  The case began approximately eight years ago in 2000 when retired county workers in Erie, Pennsylvania who had their health benefits reduced when they [...]

May 29, 2008

• Second Circuit Recognizes Associational Discrimination Claim Based on Race

  Employment discrimination laws prohibit adverse employment actions, such as termination or demotion, based on race, gender, religion, disability, and certain other protected categories. More recently, the courts have had to grapple with claims of "associational discrimination."
  The Second Circuit's recent ruling in Holcomb v. Iona College recognized the viability of such claims. In [...]

May 28, 2008

• 9th Cir: Reference Checks for Pilots

  The 9th Circuit has held that a private air carrier did not violate the federal Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996, 49 USC § 44703, when it disclosed an ex-employee's records to another private carrer, after the employee signed a release of liability.  The panel held that false information supplied to a private carrier does not fall [...]

May 27, 2008

• Retaliation Against Friends and Relatives

  If an employee files a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and you fire her shortly thereafter, you run the risk of also being accused of retaliation.  What if you fire the exployee's fiancee?  Can he accuse you of retaliation and file his own charge with the EEOC?
  According to the Sixth Circuit Court [...]

May 26, 2008

• Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Bloomberg L.P.

  Pregnancy discrimination, which is a form of gender discrimination, is becoming a hot button issue in 2008. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a class-action lawsuit against Bloomberg L.P., the financial-services and media company founded by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, on behalf of at least 54 women who accuse the firm of [...]

May 23, 2008

• Employment- Cancer Drug Whistleblower Fired

       Celgene's cancer drug Revlimid (lenalidomide) can cause birth defects and blood clots, and Celgene fired or threatened to fire a national account manager for resisting its orders to cover this up, the man claims in Tarrant County Court, Fort Worth. Read more . . .
   

• Heroic Smokejumper Sues Uncle Sam

       EUGENE, ORE. (CN) - A 33-year veteran smokejumper sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture for age discrimination, claiming it fired him unfairly for being 3 seconds too slow in a 1½ mile run, just before he received a heroism award for dragging two people to safety after a plane crash. Continue . . .

May 19, 2008

• Paid Family Leave in New Jersey

  New Jersey has a new paid family leave law, joining California and Washington as the only states in the country having such a law.  Click here for the details.
  Read more . . .

May 15, 2008

• Mental Health and the Workplace

  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has announced that soldiers will no longer have to answer a question when seeking a security clearance about whether they have previously sought treatment for mental problems.  (Click here and here for more.)  The question discourages military personnel from seeking the mental help they need, because they don't want to have to answer the question [...]

May 14, 2008

• 9th Cir: Title VII and FBI Security Clearances

  Federal courts lack jurisdiction to review FBI security clearances, even if the clearance issue arises in a Title VII claim, according to the 9th Circuit. Federal courts do not have the power to review an agency’s decision to grant or revoke a security clearance. See [Dorfmont v. Brown, 913 F.2d 1399, 1401 (9th Cir. 1990)].  This lack [...]

May 9, 2008

• Postal Worker Wins Union Claim Against Supervisor

       ATLANTA (CN) - The 11th Circuit held that a U.S. Postal Service supervisor violated the National Labor Relations Act by yelling at and threatening to sue an employee for engaging in protected union activity. Continue . . .

May 8, 2008

• Worker Fired for Calling Supervisor a Terrorist Denied Unemployment Benefits

       EMPLOYMENT - A micro-assembler was fired for being disruptive in the workplace, calling her coworkers evil and referring to her department head as a terrorist. The appellate division found that the employee's firing for workplace misconduct disqualified her from unemployment benefits. Read more . . .
   

• Are you a jerk in the office?

  John Philips builds on a post by Michael Maslanka, a partner in the Dallas office of Ford & Harrison and the editor of the Texas Employment Law Letter titled “No Jerks Allowed.”  John offers some higlights and advice on dealing with jerks (and avoiding being a jerk yourself!):

  All organizations employ jerks, so we all have [...]

March 28, 2008

• Running a Texas Criminal Records Background Check

  By Andrew Bicknell
  In the past doing a Texas criminal records background check would take time, patience, and in some cases a little bit of money. Fortunately this is no longer the case as it is now possible to use internet criminal record search sites to do the work in less time for a fraction of [...]