April 2020 E-Update

Click here to view entire E-Update as a PDF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS CDC Updates COVID-19 Guidance to Add New Symptoms and Guidelines on Release from Isolation The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided updated guidance on several issues of relevance to employees infected with COVID-19 – additional symptoms […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit provides support to an employer’s ability to take legitimate employment action for an employee’s misconduct, regardless of the employee’s use of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. In Amedee v. Shell Chemical, LP, the employee was formally disciplined for […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit rejected an operations manager’s claim that he was terminated in retaliation for filing a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, finding instead that he was unable to meet the expectations of his new supervisor. In Couch v. American Bottling […]

In Securitas Security Services, the National Labor Relations Board concluded that the employer lawfully required confidentiality during an internal investigation of a confrontation and allegation of racial discrimination. Specifically, a manager told an employee that all employees were prohibited from discussing the confrontation and investigation while the investigation was ongoing. […]

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued several items of interest to government contractors and subcontractors this month. These include the following: Directive 2020-02 to increase the efficiency of compliance evaluations. Directive 2020-03 to establish a mediation program intended to resolve findings of discrimination prior to referral to the […]

An employee could be terminated for violating conduct rules, even resulting from her disability, and the employer was not required to provide an accommodation to enable her to meet the standards in the future, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. In Trahan v. Wayfair Maine, […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected a teacher’s claims of race, ethnicity and religion discrimination under federal and state law, finding that his termination was legitimately based on his teaching anti-Semitic views to his students. In Ali v. Woodbridge Township School Dist. et al., the teacher, […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found that the employee could not sustain a hostile environment harassment claim where the employer had effectively stopped the co-worker harassment, and the employer was not required to do more than that. Under Title VII, employers will be liable for co-worker […]

Substantial changes to Virginia’s employment laws were enacted, including expanding anti-discrimination protections, requiring reasonable accommodations for pregnancy and childbirth, increasing the minimum wage, providing a private right of action for wage payment violations, strengthening worker misclassification laws, prohibiting non-competes for low-wage employees, and implementing whistleblower protections. The Virginia Values Act […]

The District of Columbia temporarily expanded both its Family and Medical Leave Act (DC-FMLA) and its Sick and Safe Leave Act (DC-SSLA) to include COVID-19-related reasons. DC-FMLA Expansion. Under this expansion, which is in effect until June 15, 2020, during the time that the Mayor has declared a public health […]