According to the EEOC, the company’s own doctors cleared two employees as fit for duty. The employer allegedly refused to let them return anyway, unless they switched the medications treating their disabilities. That decision cost $300,000. This week is EEOC Settlement Week on The Employer Handbook: one recent EEOC settlement
The employer granted a dispatcher’s telework accommodation, watched her work successfully from home for nearly three years, then yanked it without ever talking to her according to the EEOC. That sequence cost $280,000. This week is EEOC Settlement Week on The Employer Handbook: one recent EEOC settlement per day, with
According to the EEOC, a $2 billion company said it couldn’t afford $1,700 hearing protection for an employee losing her hearing on the job. A federal lawsuit and a $100,000 settlement later, that calculus looks different. This week is EEOC Settlement Week on The Employer Handbook: one recent EEOC settlement
She showed up to work one morning, scanned her badge, and nothing happened. That’s allegedly how a 10-year employee learned she’d been fired while undergoing chemotherapy. TL;DR: The EEOC sued a turkey processing employer, alleging it violated the ADA by refusing to accommodate an employee undergoing breast cancer treatment and then
Three administrations, multiple rules, and still no settled federal standard on joint employment. The DOL’s new proposed rule is the latest attempt to end that uncertainty. TL;DR: The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a new rule establishing a single nationwide standard for determining joint employer status under the FLSA,
A law firm partner apparently missed every harassment training ever offered and made a comment that belongs in a museum of worst-possible workplace decisions. The firm’s response, though, was textbook. The case got dismissed. TL;DR: A legal assistant alleged that a law firm partner created a hostile work environment under
The termination decision-maker didn’t know about the complaint. That gap cost the employee everything. TL;DR: A security supervisor reported his manager for favoring female employees, then got fired days later over training failures and performance issues. The Tenth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the employer because the employee couldn’t show
Over 18,000 pest-control workers were allegedly barred from competing with their former employer for two years after leaving. The FTC says that’s 18,000 too many. TL;DR: The FTC filed an administrative complaint against the parent company of Orkin and other pest-control brands, alleging that its blanket noncompete policy covering more
The $11.5 million verdict against SHRM survived. Now the court’s explanation of why offers a sharper lesson than the verdict itself. TL;DR: A federal court denied SHRM’s post-trial motions seeking to overturn or reduce an $11.5 million jury verdict for race discrimination and retaliation under Section 1981. The court upheld
An employee told Social Security it was “impossible” for him to work, then filed an ADA lawsuit claiming he could perform his job with accommodations. The court tossed it on summary judgment. TL;DR: A truck driver with Parkinson’s disease applied for total Social Security disability benefits, swearing under penalty of
An employee returned from his third round of FMLA leave and found a performance improvement plan waiting for him. That looks terrible. But a jury will never hear about it. TL;DR: A manufacturing engineer was placed on a PIP immediately after returning from his third FMLA leave and later terminated.
An engineer got fired for making offensive comments about his non-Christian co-workers, then sued for religious discrimination. There was just one problem: he wouldn’t show anyone the EEOC charge he filed. TL;DR: A federal court in Texas granted summary judgment to a technology employer on an employee’s Title VII religious
A police department ran a volunteer program that looked and felt a lot like a job, complete with uniforms, badges, ranks, performance reviews, and a paramilitary chain of command. Three young women in the program alleged sex discrimination and retaliation, got dismissed, waited over two years to file charges, and
An employee complained to HR about discrimination. About two and a half months later, the employer skipped progressive discipline, gave no warning, and fired her the same day over emails. Most people would expect that case to go to a jury. It didn’t. TL;DR: An employee claimed race and sex
A weekend schedule change. A Sunday church conflict. And apparently no one at the company thought to have a conversation about it. TL;DR: According to a new EEOC lawsuit, an employer violated Title VII by changing an employee’s schedule to weekends, ignoring his religious objection, and effectively forcing him to
This week, I’m taking three of my four kids to Toronto for spring break. My boys picked Toronto because all four of the city’s pro sports teams are home this week. The Blue Jays, the Raptors, Toronto FC, and the Maple Leafs — fine, three major ones and the Leafs.