Tag: Employment law

Rah rah ree! Pay our salary!

If your Google search for “California cheerleaders illegal” led you here, our apologies for your initial disappointment. But, please, stay a while, because the recently filed class action lawsuit by the Raiderette cheerleaders against the NFL’s Oakland Raiders is instructive as to the types of issues that can lead to wage-and-hour litigation.  Do we have […]

FMLA, ADA, and employees with depression: Examining the nuts and bolts

Employees bring their expertise, education, and skills to work every day, and employers count on those qualities. But employees may also bring other aspects of their lives to work—characteristics that can complicate the employer’s responsibilities.  A study from Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI), a nonprofit organization concerned with health and productivity research, released a study in […]

Showdown in Texas over hiring convicted felons

by Mark Flora Texas Attorney General (AG) Greg Abbott has filed suit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), seeking a declaratory judgment that Texas and its agencies be entitled to maintain their current policies barring convicted felons, or categories of convicted felons, from state employment. Convicted felons and categories of convicted felons are currently […]

Say it ain’t so, A-Rod?

Back in August 2013, I wrote about the Biogenesis scandal that resulted in the suspension of 13 major and minor league baseball players, including a 211-game suspension for Alex Rodriguez. Well, thanks to A-Rod, this story has become the gift that keeps on giving. On January 11, 2014, Arbitrator Frederic R. Horowitz issued his decision […]

Human rights damages awarded by Ontario court

By Eowynne Noble In 2008, Ontario’s Human Rights Code was revised to specifically permit Ontario courts to award damages for breaches of the Code. Before this, it was only the Human Rights Tribunal that had jurisdiction to award damages for human rights violations in Ontario. Since then, Ontario plaintiffs have made many attempts to obtain […]

NLRB Sues Wal-Mart for Allegedly Violating Workers Rights to Strike for Higher Wages

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. could be facing substantial back pay fines and other remedies related to a federal complaint alleging it violated its employees’ rights with its response to organized strikes in 14 states that called for higher wages and other worker benefits. The National Labor Relations Board consolidated complaint alleged that Wal-Mart violated […]

Understanding the effect of stress and burnout

It’s no secret that since the recession many workers have found themselves expected to do more with less. They’ve seen wage and hiring freezes as well as cutbacks in benefits. They’ve also worked under a cloud – knowing that their jobs could disappear in the next round of layoffs.  As the economy begins to recover, […]

American Idol’s ‘cold-hearted’ background check practices

by Kylie Crawford TenBrook The new season of American Idol begins tonight. While viewers are getting acquainted with a new panel of judges and group of contestants, Fox attorneys are battling charges from former contestants.  In July, 10 black former American Idol contestants filed a 429-page discrimination complaint against Fox and the show’s production company […]

Access to information in labor relations: jurisdiction of arbitrators

By Édith Charbonneau and Antoine Aylwin One of your unionized employees files a complaint for psychological harassment and requests to access your investigation report several years later. When you refuse, the employee turns to the Quebec information and privacy board to get that access. But does the information and privacy board have jurisdiction, or could […]

Punter’s legal claims may be blocked

When they asked me to join the rotation of writers for Ford Harrison’s EntertainHR blog, I was a little nervous. After all, while we Minnesotans make headlines for things like our weather (the high temperature here last Monday was 13 degrees below zero) and electing professional wrestlers to high political office, we haven’t had a […]