Articles and Blogs

EEOC and NLRB Are Idle With the failure of Congress last night to fund the federal government, several of the agencies responsible for the investigation and enforcement of federal labor and employment laws have gone idle. Except for life threatening emergencies, property preservation and actions to accept filings to avoid statutes of limitations, most other... READ MORE

State Attorneys General Criticize EEOC Guidance on Criminal Background Checks Ever since the EEOC issued its “updated” Enforcement Guidance on the use of criminal background checks in April 2012, employers have struggled to understand exactly what could be asked and used in screening candidates for employment.  (See our article “Arrest and Conviction Records –... READ MORE

HIPAA Violation Was a Pretext A hospital employee’s violation of patient privacy as protected by HIPAA is a serious matter.  An intentional violation can and should lead to discipline up to and including discharge.  But a case that was decided by the NLRB is an object lesson for health care employers on what is and... READ MORE

When EEOC’s Statistics Are Unreliable – Case Fails For many employers, conducting a criminal history or credit record check on a potential employee is a rational and legitimate component of a reasonable hiring process.  This is how a federal district court judge started his opinion that went on to rake the EEOC over the coals for... READ MORE

Sports Analogy Can Have Multiple Meanings In sports, a coach will sometimes tell a player to just “walk it off” or “push through” the pain when a minor injury happens in a game or in practice.  One Florida insurance company found out that the world of sports and the world of employment are not... READ MORE

Two Courts Deny Rehearing – NLRB Exceeded Its Jurisdiction The battle over the NLRB’s Employee Rights Poster seems to be coming to an end.  The poster that the NLRB intended to be posted by private employers to inform their employees of their rights to join unions came under legal challenge and subsequent delays almost... READ MORE

Lake County Court Rules but Defers Pending Appeal On February 1, 2012, Indiana became the 23rd state to adopt a statute that prohibits private employers and unions from entering into agreements that compel union membership and the payment of dues and fees as a condition of employment.  This so-called Right-to-Work law was the focus... READ MORE

While alcoholism has long been considered an impairment, plaintiffs have had limited success establishing that alcoholism is a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). However, the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act (“ADAAA”) significantly expanded the number of protected individuals under the Act. Instead of focusing on whether an individual qualifies as... READ MORE

When the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (“ADAAA”) was implemented and the revised regulations took effect, employers began bracing for changes. We have actively monitored the much-publicized multi-million dollar settlements relating to disability claims and predicted that employee-friendly judicial decisions would follow suit. Yet, with the backlog of pre-ADAAA cases still working their... READ MORE

Because flu season can begin as early as October, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), employers are already beginning to consider their approach to mandatory vaccinations for the 2013-2014 season. Do you know where your state stands on the issue? READ MORE