A split panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the “cat’s paw” theory of liability applies to FMLA retaliation claims. In prior opinions, the Sixth Circuit has assumed without deciding that the theory is available in [...]
The Sixth Circuit issued an opinion late last week that should give a municipality pause before it removes a regulatory takings case to federal court. Siding with the Second and Fourth Circuits, the Court held that by removing a regulatory takings [...]
Since May, employers have been scrambling to identify employees who will no longer qualify as overtime exempt under the Department of Labor’s new rules, scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016. On November 22, 2016, however, Texas District [...]
On May 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor published a new final overtime rule that will take effect on December 1, 2016, and which is expected to extend overtime pay eligibility to approximately one in five U.S. workers who [...]
The Society for Human Resource Management and Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology recently published a helpful white paper on the topic of using applicants' criminal and credit history in employment decision making. The white paper discusses not only the legality of background [...]
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employers from discriminating against any “qualified individual on the basis of a disability.” But a person is not a “qualified individual” under the ADA if he or she “poses a ‘direct threat’ to [...]
We've all heard the stories. Was he a productive employee? Not particularly. Did he meet his supervisor's expectations? Only some of the time. Does his personnel file reflect his below-standard job performance? No. It is critical that employers avoid this cycle. [...]
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, No. 14-1146, a wage-and-hour dispute brought by a class of employees at a meat processing plant. Tyson appealed from the jury verdict in favor of the [...]
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in seven cases, all challenging the federal health care law's contraceptive mandate. In this challenge, the Petitioners are religiously-affiliated hospitals, charities, and educational institutions who are provided an exemption in the health care law. Importantly, however, this [...]
Few, if any, civil rights or employment laws have been construed more favorably to employees than the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (commonly referred to as “USERRA”), 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301-35. But in a recent decision, the Sixth [...]
