Late last month, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Groff v. DeJoy, a case that could potentially change the legal landscape for employers handling accommodation requests for an employee’s religious beliefs and practices under Title VII. In short, it is reasonable to anticipate that this case could make it more difficult for employers to […]
The U.S. Senate passed legislation on February 10, 2022, that prohibits employers from requiring arbitration with employees for certain disputes. The Ending Forced Arbitration Act, which President Biden is expected to sign, invalidates pre-dispute arbitration agreements that preclude a party from filing a lawsuit in court that relates to sexual assault or sexual harassment. Pre-dispute […]
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court greenlit enforcement of the vaccine mandate rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) while litigation regarding the rule continued in the lower courts. The interim final rule requires all healthcare workers working in facilities that receive funding from CMS be vaccinated—except for those with medical and religious […]
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion staying enforcement of OSHA’s emergency temporary standard (“ETS”) which had required vaccines or weekly testing for employers with 100 employees or more. The Court found that the states and business organizations challenging the ETS were likely to succeed in demonstrating OSHA exceeded its statutory authority. Notably, the […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a major victory for employers across America – ruling that mandatory arbitration agreements that contain a provision prohibiting any form of class or collective litigation are lawful. The issue was ripe for consideration at the Supreme Court because there was a split among the Circuit Courts of Appeal as […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has announced an immediate stay and review of an Obama-era policy requiring pay information to be included on form EEO-1. The revised form was set to take effect with the next filing cycle in March 2018. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has always required companies to report […]
Remember last November when a federal judge put a temporary hold on significant changes to federal labor laws affecting millions of workers and their employers? We wrote about it here. Last week, the judge issued a final ruling that struck down the proposed changes, which would have required employers either to substantially increase the pay […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in Chicago) ruled on April 4, 2017, that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which prohibits workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin – includes discrimination based upon an employee’s sexual orientation. While the federal agency that enforces […]
On Tuesday, November 22, 2016, a Texas federal court temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Labor’s new overtime rule nationwide, scheduled to take effect next week on Thursday, December 1. The new overtime rule (called the Final Rule) would make about 4.2 million workers across the country newly eligible for overtime. The Final Rule increases […]
As of Wednesday, companies are no longer subject to the Department of Labor’s “Persuader Rule” requiring disclosure of legal advice a company receives in response to union organization campaigns. A court in Texas has permanently blocked the new Persuader Rule. Earlier this year, the Department of Labor issued the new Persuader Rule requiring public disclosure […]
Litigation over restrictive covenant agreements, including non-competes, is on the rise. Because such agreements are viewed as restraints on trade, they are generally disfavored by Illinois courts. In a recent decision, an Illinois appellate court followed suit, striking down as overbroad and unreasonable the non-compete, non-solicit and confidentiality provisions in an employment agreement. AssuredPartners, Inc. […]
On June 1, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held that in order to prevail in a disparate-treatment claim, an applicant need show only that her need for accommodation was a motivating factor in the employer’s decision, not that the employer had actual knowledge of her need. In 2008, Samantha Elauf, a Muslim woman, applied for […]
Many of you employers out there have had the misfortune of receiving a “Charge of Discrimination” from the EEOC, alleging a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The best outcome, of course, is that the EEOC makes a “no cause” determination after investigating and reading your position statement (and the […]
The Illinois Appellate Court recently issued a decision changing a fundamental aspect of the law on non-compete agreements in Illinois—which may cast doubt on the enforceability of non-compete agreements your company has put in place with new employees in the last two years. Prior to the court’s decision, Illinois law allowed an employer to enforce […]
