Unpaid interns have been in employment news regularly over the past year due to several lawsuits alleging wage and hour violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Unpaid interns, mostly in the media and entertainment industries, claimed they were misclassified and that they should have been paid a minimum wage for the work they… Read More
Employment Blog
Here you can find the most recent employment law news and commentary on cases around the country. If you need assistance with employment law, don't hesitate to call us.
Diabetic Employee Files ADA Claim
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits workplace discrimination against any employee with an actual or perceived disability and requires that employers provide reasonable accommodation for any disabled employee who is otherwise qualified to perform essential job functions. An employer may not refuse to hire, refuse to promote, discipline, or terminate an employer based… Read More
Employer Wins Odd Sexual Harassment Claim
A hospital recently prevailed in an unusual sexual harassment case brought by a female technician, Sara Debord. The alleged facts of the case spanned over five years and are somewhat convoluted, involving Facebook posts, cold hands, sexual harassment accusations, and payroll fraud allegations. Basic Facts Debord worked as a nuclear medicine technician in the department… Read More
More Developments in ACA Employer Lawsuits
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates that every health insurance plan, including plans provided by employers, offer preventive health services with no cost sharing. For the purposes of the new law, the Department of Health and Human Services defined appropriate preventive benefits for women to include the entire range of FDA approved contraceptive methods. This… Read More
California Teacher Fired For Being A Lesbian?
A former California English teacher is suing the Hesperia Unified School District for discrimination. Julia Frost worked for the school district from 2011 to 2013 as a probationary teacher. After her contract was not renewed, Frost filed her lawsuit believing she was harassed, had to work in a hostile work environment and was terminated all… Read More
Violation of Substance Abuse Policy Leads to Seahawk Suspension
Recently in this blog, we discussed a local teacher demanding he get his job back despite the fact that he arrived to work drunk and proceeded to teach young children while he was intoxicated. His violation of the school’s drug free workplace policy seemed like a fairly straight forward, non-discriminatory grounds for termination. However, when… Read More
Union "No" Could Lead Boeing To Go
Boeing recently presented a new contract that would have Seattle aircraft manufacturer buildings its new 777X airplanes at union-represented Seattle plants. Despite having moved its headquarters to Chicago in 2001, Boeing has been an airline manufacturing mainstay in Seattle since the early 1900s. So the company felt fairly secure in the prospects of its newly… Read More
National Labor Relations Board Investigates Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart makes headlines fairly regularly these days. Occasionally, the headlines are good sometimes the headlines are not good. One of the recent less positive headlines came in the form of a picture of food collection bins for Wal-Mart employees by Wal-Mart employees at a Cleveland Wal-Mart Superstore store. Some employees felt the need to start… Read More
More Companies Taking Steps to Prevent Discrimination
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released its 2013 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) recently. The CEI looks at the policies and programs companies have in place to protect and include LGBT employees. Eleven years ago there were almost no laws protecting LGBT employees from sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace. HRC felt the need to survey… Read More
Political Correctness "Fails" and Discrimination
A few months ago, Seattle found itself in a bit of an uproar when an official raised the issue of using the term “brown bag” when advertising events. The official was greatly concerned about political correctness and fear that “brown bag” could be racially derogatory not simply referring to the traditional color of paper lunch… Read More