Articles and Blogs

Michigan Joins Indiana in “Right-to-Work” In less than twelve months, two Midwestern states long known for their unionized workforces have passed legislation that prevents agreements requiring union membership and the payment of union dues as a condition of employment.  First, on February 1, 2012, Governor Mitch Daniels signed Indiana’s “Right-to-Work” bill into law to... READ MORE

Background Checks and Notice Forms The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) imposes numerous notice obligations on employers who use third-party companies to conduct background checks on their employees and job applicants.  Among other requirements, all job applicants must be informed explicitly: 1) that a background check will be conducted on them; 2) given the opportunity... READ MORE

Complain, Complain, Complain… Two African-American nurses for some time had complained about working conditions, race discrimination and unfair treatment at their hospital.  They filed a petition with Human Resources that alleged Filipino nurses were treated better than the African-American nurses.  It was investigated but could not be corroborated.  They complained that other nurses were... READ MORE

Did Daughter Really “Need to Care for” Mom in Las Vegas? A jury is going to decide the winner of this game.  Recently a district court in Illinois denied an employer’s motion for summary judgment when it fired an employee who traveled with her mother to Las Vegas in order to “care for” her terminally ill... READ MORE

Discrimination Laws Don’t Apply to Religious “Ministers” In the realm of employment law, the “ministerial exception” prohibits the application of federal anti-discrimination laws to claims concerning the employment relationship between a religious institution and its ministers.  Exactly who qualifies as a minister under the ministerial exception is being determined by the courts on a... READ MORE

Job Assignment Leads to Panic and Anxiety A long-term care employer fired a nurse for “patient abandonment” after the nurse went to the Human Resources Department in a state of panic because she was going to be assigned to a unit for which she had not been trained.  Her supervisor had told her that... READ MORE

The Court Turns the Tide of the Epidemic For several years now there has been a veritable epidemic of class and collective actions filed against employers claiming that employees were not paid for working through their meal periods.  These cases arose frequently where employees were subject to automatic meal period deductions of 30 minutes... READ MORE

Employer’s Social Media Policy and Savings Clause Are Okay For the past two years, private employers have been struggling to understand just what the NLRB expects of them when it comes to Social Media Policies (among other things – confidential investigations; employment-at-will; off-duty access).  The NLRB General Counsel has even issued three separate Memos... READ MORE

One Last Chance or Set Up to Fail? Faced with an underperforming employee, an employer will often give the employee a chance to prove himself one last time before termination.  Sometimes that approach can backfire if not done carefully – especially if the employee can claim some legal protection – like using FMLA. READ MORE

OFCCP Lacks Jurisdiction over TRICARE The health care industry scored a significant litigation victory over OFCCP recently when the Administrative Review Board (ARB) ruled that Florida Hospital of Orlando’s TRICARE network agreement did not cause it to be a covered subcontractor subject to OFCCP’s affirmative action rules.  The ruling overturns an earlier Administrative Law Judge... READ MORE