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On July 9, 2021, President Biden signed a wide-ranging Executive Order intended to promote competition in the American economy. The E.O. contains 72 initiatives across the whole of government, several of which have a direct employment impact – specifically on non-compete agreements, occupational licensing requirements, and wage-sharing activities between employers. In a fact sheet, the […]

In another non-employment case with employment impact, the U.S. Supreme Court reiterated that only a plaintiff who has suffered concrete harm may bring suit for damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) – the federal law governing background checks, including for employment purposes. Nonetheless, this case serves to remind employers of the need to […]

Even if the incumbent employee is willing to share a full-time job, the employer is not required to permit such an arrangement as a reasonable accommodation, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In Perdue v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC, the employee was unable to work full-time because of a disability. A […]

As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit stated, “The [Americans with Disabilities Act] does not require an employer to retain an employee who it believes behaved in a threatening and dangerous way—even if the employee’s major depressive disorder is one reason or the sole reason, that the employee engaged in that behavior.” […]

During the past year, many employers have had to reduce or shut down operations. In some instances, this has triggered an obligation under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to provide 60-days’ notice to employees experiencing job loss or reduction in hours. This past month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth […]

Confirming perhaps an obvious point, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that “a binding federal regulation presents a complete defense to an ADA [American with Disabilities Act] failure-to-accommodate claim.” In Bey v. City of New York, Black firefighters with a skin condition that causes pain and scarring with shaving sought an […]

Employers should be careful to ensure that their interview processes, including the interview criteria, are consistent, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently emphasized. In Taite v. Bridgewater State University, an applicant sued the University for race discrimination and, in support of her claim, offered evidence that different interview criteria were […]

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employer is not required to provide an assistant to perform an employee’s essential job functions, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently noted. In Thompson v. Microsoft Corporation, the employee, who had Autism Spectrum Disorder, sought various accommodations, including an assistant to assist with […]

The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a decision that enabled a transgender student to use the sex-segregated bathroom that corresponded to his gender identity. Although not an employment case, transgender bathroom access is an issue of interest to employers, and this case provides some guidance on the topic. In Gloucester County School Board v. Grimm, […]

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued proposed regulations that would reinstate the 80/20 rule applicable to the compensation of tipped employees. This rule has been the subject of great controversy over the years and had been eliminated by the Trump administration. Tipped Employees and the Tip Credit. Under the FLSA, an employer of tipped […]