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A recent ruling from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) means employers are no longer automatically exempted when unions ask them to turn over witness statements related to employee discipline. Now, the employer’s confidentiality interest must be balanced with the union’s need for information. The American Baptist Homes of the West d/b/a Piedmont Gardens case […]
Last year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that, in most cases, an employer doesn’t have to make an exception to an established seniority system to provide an accommodation to a disabled worker. Now, the same court has clarified its original ruling, going even farther in protecting seniority policies. The case involved a disabled […]
A group of 28 screenwriters have filed a class action lawsuit against the major television networks, studios and talent agencies, claiming that a pattern of age discrimination exists in the television industry that has squeezed out writers who are over 40. The writers charge that the networks, studios and agents are so eager to capture […]
Alabama employers may see some relief in a federal judge’s opinion on the state’s tough new immigration law even though most of the law was allowed to stand. Chief U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn ruled on September 28 that key parts of House Bill 56, which was signed into law June 9, can take […]
Clever unionizing tactics such as changing independent contractors to employees and presenting employers with package deals are part of the new labor landscape, says attorney David Fortney. Fortney is a co-founder of law firm Fortney & Scott, LLC in Washington, DC, and is editor of Federal Employment Law Insider. He made his remarks about new […]
A coal mine in Birmingham, Ala. will pay $40,000 to settle allegations it failed to reassign a worker with a disability, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Rocky Davis had hearing loss and was regularly assigned to an area of the mine that adversely affected his hearing aids, according to the U.S. Equal […]
Yesterday, we looked at the large margin by which employees underestimate the amount it costs you to provide them with various benefits. Today, we’ll look at the one benefit employees refuse to give up — at nearly any cost.
The first case, Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, involved an employer’s decision to lay off 31 employees, 30 of whom were age 40 or older. The workers sued, claiming the layoffs had a disparate impact on older workers in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The employer claimed it based its […]
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued controversial final ergonomics standards that are tougher than California’s current law. The final federal rule is scheduled to take effect Jan. 16, 2001. California will then have six months to adopt a similar standard.