Articles and Blogs

Early this month, a Treasury official announced in a blog that the Obama Administration would delay implementation of certain health care coverage reporting requirements and the “pay or play” shared responsibility payments under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”).  (See July 3, 2013 Hall Render blog post “Obama Administration Takes Its Foot off the Gas Pedal,... READ MORE

Late in the day on July 2, 2013, the Obama Administration announced via two blog posts that it will provide a one-year delay to the implementation of significant aspects of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) affecting employers.  This delay applies to: (1) the ACA’s new health care coverage reporting requirements applicable to employers, insurers... READ MORE

It has been a busy week for the Supreme Court as it reaches the end of its current term.  On Monday, two significant decisions were handed down that directly affect employment law.  The first was the Court’s clarification of the meaning of “supervisor” for purposes of Title VII discrimination.  The second decision deals with... READ MORE

Today, June 24, 2013, the U. S. Supreme Court cleared the air on the question of who is a supervisor for purposes of discrimination cases arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.  In this case that has been pending since 2006, the Court, in a 5 to 4 decision, ruled that the... READ MORE

The NLRB’s rule requiring private sector employers to post a “Notice of Employee Rights” took another hit from another federal appeals court.  The rule that was scheduled to go into effect early in 2012 was enjoined by lower federal courts last year and was ultimately struck down by a decision of a federal appeals... READ MORE

Discharge for Lactation Is Sex Discrimination In a recent decision, a federal appeals court held that a termination for “lactating or expressing milk” is sex discrimination under Title VII because it would clearly impose upon women “a burden that male employees need not – indeed, could not – suffer.”  The Court also ruled that... READ MORE

The National Labor Relations Board has, for at least the past two years, been focusing on private employer policies that interfere with employee rights to engage in protected concerted activity for their mutual aid and protection.  Employer policies that prohibit talking about wages, hours and working conditions while at or away from work have... READ MORE

It’s long been a crime or at least a misdemeanor for someone to threaten or intimidate another person.  Recently, some prosecutions for intimidation were dismissed by the courts because of the way Indiana’s intimidation statute was written.  For instance, it wasn’t clear that threats made electronically were prohibited.  Also, it wasn’t clear that intimidation... READ MORE

Adverse Inference from Deleted Evidence Litigation happens.  When it does, and sometimes even before it does, you need to be aware that, unless you take steps to preserve discoverable or relevant evidence such as emails, memos or data banks, a jury might be instructed by the court to assume that the deleted evidence was... READ MORE

Release and Waiver of Claims Can’t Release and Waive Too Much  Employee severance agreements often grant severance benefits conditioned upon the departing employee’s signing an agreement that includes a general waiver and release of all claims.  That’s a common and prudent practice.  However, a recent complaint filed by the EEOC shows that common release... READ MORE