A sign of things to come: Fifth Circuit expands scope of employment practices protected by Title VII
8/24/23
By: Robert Chadwick
On Friday, August 18, 2023, an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed nearly three decades of precedent as to the reach of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act …
Don’t lose your right to arbitrate – separate provisions can permeate
8/9/23
By: Lynn Hollenbeck
Employers, beware. The Arbitration Agreement you have your employees sign may be rock solid, but an unconscionable provision in another onboarding document can permeate and vitiate it. In a case decided in April 2023 by the Second …
Georgia Court of Appeals Rules Employee Non-Solicitation Provision Must Have Geographical Limitation
7/6/23
By: Bradley T. Adler and Zachary W. Jarvis
While the future enforceability of non-compete provisions (and some other post-employment restrictive covenants) may be uncertain due to the recent efforts of the Federal Trade Commission, National Labor Relations Board and state …
6/29/23
By: Christopher J. Fleissner and Daniel Parker Jett
The Ninth Circuit recently ruled that an employer’s conduct can discriminate based on sex even if that conduct equally offends both men and women, and even if it does not target any …
Running a background check? – Don’t run from these disclosures
6/28/23
By: Mandy D. Hexom and Thomas Livingston
Background checks are standard procedure for many employers as part of the employee application or onboarding process. It seems obvious that the applicant or employee knows they are consenting to a background check, …
NLRB Continues To Enter New Territory By Advising That Non-Compete Agreements Violate The NLRA
6/12/23
By: Zachary Jarvis and Brad Adler
On the heels of the NLRB’s controversial decision in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023) finding generally that non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the NLRB’s General …
Texas is Latest State to Enact Crown Act
5/31/23
By: Robert Chadwick and Lynne Finley
On Saturday, May 17, 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 567, a new law banning race-based hair discrimination in Texas schools, housing and workplaces. Texas thus joins twenty other states which have …
4/19/23
By Jody Cappello and Tara Sheldon
In Jones v. Walmart Store No. 2585 et al., the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut addressed the burden a plaintiff must meet to establish an adverse employment action under …
3/20/23
By: Tia Combs and Allison Spears
In Hudson v. Lincare, Inc., the Fifth Circuit provided employers with a roadmap for the proper response to claims of co-worker harassment. As discussed below, the case exemplifies how prompt and deliberate action …
3/10/23
By: Bob Chadwick and Gabriel Canto
As part of a permanent furlough in 2020, McLaren McComb, a union teaching hospital, offered 11 union employees severance agreements offering severance payments in exchange for releases of claims and the following clauses:
Clause…
Geotracking Regulatory Trend is Expanding to Employers
1/17/23
By: Justin Boron
You probably already know that your apps know where you were last night. But did you know that employers might too?
It is all but accepted that our geolocations are being tracked, which is part and parcel …
1/13/23
By: R. Victoria Fuller and Emily Kowalik
Two new federal laws aimed at increasing protections for pregnant and breastfeeding employees will go into effect in 2023: the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing …