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“Social media background checks are a hot item,” says attorney Kevin McCormick, “but I’m not a fan.” Sneaky, Low, Invasive Furthermore, social sleuthing smacks of “Sneaky,” “Low,” and “Invasion,” says McCormick. “One thing I know is what juries like and what they don’t like, and they don’t like that.” Chair of the Labor and Employment […]
Litigation Value: $0 – 300,000 Well, it didn’t take long for the Michael Scott Paper Company to go broke. Surprisingly, it wasn’t because of any judgments for sexual harassment, unfair competition, or defamation. Not surprisingly, it was because of irresponsible pricing. During its short tenure, Michael’s company could have been sued several times. Unfortunately, it […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed a lawsuit against the fiduciaries of a Virginia-based employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), alleging the defendants failed to protect the assets of the plan as it purchased nearly $21 million in company shares from the president of Sentry Equipment Erectors Inc., who was also a trustee of […]
On July 21, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted to approve a draft notice of proposed rulemaking that would rescind the EEO-1 report and related demographic data reporting requirements, ending an obligation that has been a fixture of federal employment compliance for six decades. While the proposal must still navigate the notice-and-comment process […]
By Jeff Gilbreth and Gauri Patil As the holiday season ramps up, many of us will be spending time with family and friends, attending holiday parties and preparing for another new year. While this is certainly a fun and joyous time, we are here to remind employers that various wage and hour pitfalls are lurking […]
Employment law attorney Dominic Verstegen discusses Dunder Mifflin’s liability for Michael Scott’s actions in the “Lecture Circuit” episode of “The Offfice” should Karen decide to sue for pregnancy discrimination. Litigation Value: $200,000 Although there were several objectionable/actionable incidents on the Lecture Circuit (Part I) episode of The Office, what stood out to me was Michael’s […]
One of the favorite moves of diversity training facilitators is to ask employees to drop all pretenses, and just go ahead and express feelings they have about other types of people. “Get them out on the table and let’s learn how to deal with them.” The facilitator will usually say, “Let’s agree that what’s said […]
In 2017, there were 10,000 deaths caused by natural disasters worldwide. And a lot of those occurred while people were on the job. In addition, research shows that the number of recorded natural disasters has increased quite a bit in the past century. So, it’s still critical, perhaps now more than ever, that we’re well-prepared […]
by Judith E. Kramer and Sean D. Lee With the election of Donald Trump, there is no question that there will be upheaval in many areas of the law. Even in the discrete area of labor and employment law, the prognostications could fill many blog posts. In this article, we focus on the employment-related Executive […]
The number of employer requests for union elections has exploded since the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) adopted a new framework for representation last summer. In the six months following the NLRB’s release of its decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, in August 2023, employers have submitted 254 union election petitions. In the six […]