By Lindsay Hesketh Last week, the Fifth Circuit held firm in its position that “Title VII in plain terms does not cover ‘sexual orientation.’” In a slightly different iteration, plaintiff sued her former employer alleging that defendant had discriminated against her because she identifies as heterosexual and retaliated against her after she opposed the alleged […]
Month: April 2019
SCOTUS Restricts Class Arbitrations
By John Alan Doran In yet another pro-arbitration, employer-friendly decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning that an individual cannot pursue claims in arbitration on behalf of a class unless the arbitration clause involved clearly and unequivocally permits class treatment of claims. Lamps Plus v. Varela, 17-988 (April 24, 2019). Varela worked for Lamps […]
NLRB Reins In Prior Expansive View Protected Concerted Activity
By John Alan Doran “So, two guys walk into a bathroom…” No, seriously, this case is about two co-workers who walked into a bathroom. While in the bathroom, Employee A complained to Employee B that a former client had been dropped back in his lap, and that the former client should have been sent to […]
Employer’s Reasonable Belief Is No Pretext
By Beth Ann Lennon Did the car hit the employee or the employee hit the car? This is not the beginning of a logic problem – it’s the question one employer recently encountered when investigating a “he-said, he-said” workplace dispute. Based on the investigation, the employer determined that the employee had lied about the contact […]
In a Goldilocks-Esque Decision, the Eleventh Circuit Finds a “Similarly Situated in all Material Respects” to Be Just Right
By Amy Knapp What does it mean within the context of the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework for a plaintiff to show she was treated less favorably than other “similarly situated” individuals? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has cleared up this oft-debated aspect of a plaintiff’s prima facie burden in Lewis v. […]
DOL Proposes Revamp of the “Regular Rate”
By James Korte The DOL continues to issue proposed rules to “modernize” the FLSA. The latest proposal, if finalized, would clarify and update the requirements for how employers calculate the “regular rate” of pay. The “regular rate” is the hourly rated used to calculate the overtime premium pay for non-exempt employees. The proposal: provides more […]