Sarah J. Lis

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Sarah Lis represents employers before federal and state courts as well as administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor. Sarah’s employment litigation experience includes discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims, wage and hour matters, whistleblower claims, ADA public access claims, ADA disability and accommodation matters, employee leave issues, and restrictive covenant enforcement and defense.

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Can Employers Refuse to Hire Smokers?

By Sarah J. Lis and Akerman Law on Posted in Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention, Employment Litigation
Are smokers in a protected class? Can a company refuse to hire them? After all, studies have repeatedly shown that smokers have higher absenteeism, are less productive and carry higher healthcare costs than non-smokers. Not so fast. While smokers are not a protected class under federal anti-discrimination laws, statutes in more than half the states … Continue Reading

Transgender Rights Trump Religious Rights in Sixth Circuit Case

By Sarah J. Lis on Posted in Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention, Employment Discrimination Harassment & Retaliation, Employment Litigation
Title VII’s protections against sex discrimination extend to transgender workers, even in the face of a challenge based on the employer’s religious rights, a federal appellate court has held. A funeral home violated Title VII when it terminated its funeral home director after she disclosed that she planned to transition from male to female and … Continue Reading

Another Circuit Says Title VII Prohibits Sexual Orientation Discrimination

By Sarah J. Lis on Posted in Employee Handbooks & Policies, Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention, Employment Discrimination Harassment & Retaliation
A second federal appellate court has ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation. The ruling is in line with the EEOC’s interpretation of the law, but at odds with the interpretation by the current administration’s Department of Justice. The case, Zarda v. … Continue Reading

An Employer’s Guide to Litigation Holds

By Sarah J. Lis on Posted in Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention, Employment Litigation, Uncategorized
Employers have a duty to preserve information that is potentially relevant to anticipated or existing litigation and failure to comply with that duty can have dire consequences. As such, issuing a litigation hold should be at the top of every employer’s to-do list once placed on notice of a lawsuit, an administrative charge, an agency … Continue Reading

Mandatory Flu Vaccination Policies: Time for a Check-Up

By Sarah J. Lis on Posted in Employee Handbooks & Policies, Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention
After a measles outbreak at Disneyland spread to 134 Californians and residents in six other states and two other countries, California adopted a law removing “personal belief” exemptions from vaccinating children in public or private schools or childcare centers. But employers faced with choosing between wanting a healthy work-site and respecting individual worker’s beliefs about … Continue Reading

Loose Lips Can Constitute Interference with FMLA Leave

By Sarah J. Lis on Posted in Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention, Medical & Other Leaves
Disclosure of medical confidential information can result in a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) interference claim, even when the employer does not actually interfere with the employee’s right to take FMLA leave. So held a federal court recently in Fort Myers, Florida in the case of Holtrey v. Collier County Board of Commissioners.… Continue Reading

Stress Claims Stressing Employers Out

By Sarah J. Lis on Posted in Disability, Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention
Let’s face it: work can be stressful. So what’s an employer to do when an employee requests a stress-free or less stressful work environment as an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act? As always, it depends. While the ADA generally requires employers to engage in the interactive process to determine whether they can accommodate … Continue Reading

OSHA Clarifies Its “Just Say No” to Automatic Post-Accident Drug-Testing Position

By Sarah J. Lis on Posted in Workplace Safety & OSHA
How do employers reconcile automatic drug-testing required by workers’ compensation laws with the provisions of OSHA’s new Rule saying that automatic testing could be retaliatory? Following our recent blog on that issue, many of our readers had questions. They were not alone; in fact, there was so much debate that OSHA issued a Memorandum on … Continue Reading

Just Say No to Automatic Post-Accident Drug-Testing?

By Sarah J. Lis on Posted in Workplace Safety & OSHA
(**Edited as of October 26, 2017.** See updated blog.**) Do you automatically drug-test after all work-related injuries or accidents? If so, you may want to consider changing your policy in light of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new reporting Rule. The Rule was initially effective August 10, 2016, but enforcement has been delayed while … Continue Reading

E-Cigarettes in the Workplace

By Sarah J. Lis on Posted in Employee Handbooks & Policies
Employers should be aware of the new electronic cigarette fad, and the need to address workplace policies accordingly. Electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes, are battery-powered devices that heat up nicotine-laced liquid, turning it into a vapor that users inhale, or “vape,” and then exhale. Most look like conventional cigarettes, cigars, or pipes, but some … Continue Reading
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