Big news for home health agencies and others whose business comes from referral sources: the Florida Supreme Court just held that referral sources are the kind of protectable business interest that will support a non-compete agreement. Home health agencies, like other health care businesses, routinely use non-compete agreements to prevent marketing employees from leaving and … Continue Reading
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has just switched sides in a trio of high profile arbitration cases now pending before the Supreme Court, joining with the employers to argue that the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB’s) ban on the use of class action waivers in arbitration agreements oversteps its authority and is misguided.… Continue Reading
On the heels of withdrawing published interpretations of the concepts of “joint employer” and “independent contractor,” the Secretary of Labor announced yesterday that it will reinstate the issuance of opinion letters. Opinion letters are official, written opinions by the Wage and Hour Division that explain how a law applies to specific sets of facts. In … Continue Reading
A job description identifying essential job functions can be an employer’s best friend—if drafted correctly. Two recent cases illustrate the importance of accurate job descriptions.… Continue Reading
While the current administration is taking steps to dismantle what it views as excessive regulation, one thing is clear: whistleblowers continue to blow the whistle, and ever more visibly so.… Continue Reading
Audit season is in full swing. Businesses now are working with auditors on their tax and other audits to ensure compliance with various financial regulations. But there is one audit that many businesses have yet to undertake and have continued to miss over the last few years: the accessibility of their website. Many businesses continued … Continue Reading
Political correctness in the workplace has become increasingly complex. Employers who have referred to transitioning employees with the wrong pronoun have found themselves in the crosshairs of the EEOC. But what about those employees who do not identify with either gender and prefer a gender neutral pronoun? Say, what?… Continue Reading
The number of federal courts allowing plaintiffs to recover emotional distress damages in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) retaliation cases is expanding, with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last month joining two other circuits that have permitted such damages. The case Pineda v. JTCH Apartments, L.L.C. (5th Circuit December 19, 2016), involved maintenance employee … Continue Reading
With the growing list of states legalizing marijuana, are workplace drug policies up in smoke? As the new year begins, Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota join the growing list of states that have legalized medical marijuana. Currently, 28 states* and Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana use for certain medicinal purposes, and eight states** and the … Continue Reading
As government agencies steadily expand the concept of joint employment, franchisors increasingly find themselves in a difficult position. Since August 2015, when the NLRB ruled in Browning-Ferris that entities with the ability to exercise direct or indirect control over workers can be joint employers (prior blog post here), franchisors have experienced increased scrutiny from both federal … Continue Reading
It’s flu season and many employers, particularly those in healthcare, want to require employees to be vaccinated to minimize the spread of illness. But what happens when an employee refuses on religious grounds?… Continue Reading
Ironically, giving employees the right to decline to resolve their employment claims in binding arbitration may actually help employers enforce arbitration agreements in some parts of the country.… Continue Reading
Courts have been quick to allow one employee claiming to be due overtime to sue on behalf of others in the same job category by certifying a collective action, allowing that employee to represent the class and requiring the employer to provide contact information for others in the same job category. However, in a case … Continue Reading
For the first time since announcing last year that workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, and bisexual workers violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC has filed two sex discrimination cases against private employers based on sexual orientation.… Continue Reading
Employees seeking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act are supposed to give 30 days’ notice if the need for leave is “foreseeable,” but what does “foreseeable” mean? Based on a recent 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, even elective surgery which could be planned far in advance, if “relatively urgent,” would not be … Continue Reading
In Coats v. Dish Network, LLC, the Supreme Court of Colorado upheld an employer’s decision to terminate the employment of a quadriplegic employee who worked as a customer service representative and who held a state-issued license to consume medical marijuana. Coats, who had been confined to a wheelchair since his teenage years, tested positive for marijuana … Continue Reading
In Noll v. Int’l Bus. Machs. Corp., 13-cv-4096 (2d Cir May 21, 2015), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the extent to which, under the ADA and New York State law, an employee must be provided with the precise accommodation he or she requests and whether, if the employer offers a different type of … Continue Reading
Before filing suit against an employer, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a duty to notify the employer of the claim and give the employer an opportunity to discuss the matter. But the EEOC has no duty to engage in good faith negotiations with the employer, according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Mach Mining, … Continue Reading
Given the opportunity, most defense lawyers will remove an employment discrimination case filed in state court to federal court because federal judges are more inclined to grant summary judgment, i.e. a judgment in favor of one party before the case goes to trial. But as a recent case from Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal … Continue Reading
In recent years the United States Supreme Court has ruled in favor of businesses in several cases involving the enforceability of arbitration agreements. But as illustrated by a recent decision by Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal, Hernandez v. Colonial Grocers, Inc., courts will decline to enforce arbitration agreements that have a “chilling effect” on … Continue Reading
Your company just won its workers’ compensation case, and the employee was denied benefits. Time to celebrate, right? WRONG. You may have just bought yourself a civil lawsuit for damages. In Ocean Reef Club, Inc. v. Wilczewski and Leon, No. 3D09-2779 (Fla. 3d DCA March 21, 2012), the Third District Court of Appeal made two findings … Continue Reading
