Gender discrimination is not a new concept, as it has been around for quite some time. And while in today’s world, women have the ability to be as equally as successful as men, there are still things that certain genders may experience due to outdated and age old thoughts on gender equality. Men and Women Are […]
HR Firm Agrees to Pay $1 Million in Back Wages: Being Paid A Salary Does Not Exempt You From Overtime
In this case, a contract Human Resources firm (you would think they would get this stuff right) believed that by raising its employees salaries high enough it exempted them from the FLSA and its overtime provisions. The result of this misreading of the law was a $1 million dollar settlement to pay back wages to […]
New Non-Compete Cases Are Divided on Whether Continued Employment is Adequate Consideration to Support a Restrictive Covenant
Since a decision by an Illinois Appellate court in 2013 (which the Illinois Supreme Court declined to review) held that to support a non-compete agreement the employee must work for at least two years it has been a hotly debated issue. We discussed Fifield and a related case last January. Two recent non-compete decisions highlight the growing divide on this issue. […]
To Qualify for FMLA You Need to have worked 1,250 Hours — How is that Calculated
In a recent decision from the U.S. District Court in Illinois — Caggiano v. Illinois Department of Corrections— the Plaintiff, a prison correctional officer, retroactively requested FMLA leave on April 18, 2012, after being out for three consecutive days caring for his mother on April 7 – 10. The Defendant denied the FMLA request asserting that […]
EEOC Settles 45 year old Race Discrimination Case for 1.65 Million Against Sheet Metal Workers’ Union
The EEOC announced on April 13, 2016 that it reached a partial settlement of a race discrimination claims made against Local 25 of the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association and its associated apprenticeship school. The lawsuit was originally filed in 1971 in the Southern District of New York by the Department of Justice. The EEOC replaced the DOJ in […]
Equal Pay for Women: World Cup Champions File An EEOC Charge
Federal Law, Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, require employers to treat male and female employees equally in the workplace, not just in terms of pay, but to all forms of compensation, and terms, conditions or privileges of employment, transfers, or promotions. An employer cannot deny women equal […]
Can Mandatory Overtime Be an Essential Job Function? The 11th Circuit Says Yes
On March 30, 2015, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision which determined that mandatory overtime was an essential job function – confirming the dismissal of a disability discrimination claim. You can read the opinion here. In 2012, the plaintiff provided a note requesting a lifting restriction of no-more than 15 pounds. The employer reassigned her to […]
Amendments to The FLSA
The Department of Labor has made the decision to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), intending to update sections of the FSLA that deal with wages and overtime, making this the first update to the federal wage law since 2004. According to the DOL, this update to the FSLA is necessary in order to bring federal wage […]