News

News

[01/24] Job bias claims at record level
[01/11] Pepsi Beverages pays $3.1M in racial bias case
[01/11] Md. man's leave lawsuit lands in Supreme Court
[01/11] Court:Judges cannot get involved in church dispute

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Articles

Affirmative Action

Affirmative action is the legal term for any program that grants preferences in training, hiring, or promotion to women or minority group members. There are two situations in which an employer is required to adopt affirmative action measures: when it has been ordered to do so as part of the resolution of a discrimination lawsuit against it, or when it has entered into a contract with a state or federal government entity, and is required to use an affirmative action program according to the contract.

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What are Some of the Main Federal Employment Laws?

Employers are subject to regulations and laws not only at the state and local level, but at the federal level as well. Employers normally need to have a certain number of employees in order to be subjected to federal employment laws. The list below is not meant to be exhaustive. Employers should consult experienced employment law attorneys to ensure they are in compliance with all applicable laws.

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Case Summaries

[02/03] Lawson v. FMR, LLC
In two separate but related cases under the whistleblower protection provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, alleging unlawful retaliation by employers that are private companies that act under contract as advisers to and managers of mutual funds organized under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the district court's denial of motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim is reversed, as the whistleblower protection afforded by section 806(a) of the Act applies only to the employees of public companies as defined in the Act, and not to an employee of a contractor or subcontractor of a public company reporting suspected violations relating to fraud against shareholders of the public company.

[02/03] Biller v. Toyota Motor Corp.
In a dispute over the violation of an employment severance agreement, the district court's confirmation of an arbitration award is affirmed, where: 1) the severance agreement called for arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act; 2) the district court did not err by not conducting a merits review of the award; and 3) the arbitrator did not manifestly disregard the law governing the severance agreement. Denial of the appellant's motion for contempt is also affirmed, where under the plain terms of a permanent injunction issued by the court, the employer was entitled to delete documents from the appellant's computer.

[02/02] Lore v. City of Syracuse
In a case alleging illegal retaliation against a city police officer under Title VII and the New York State Human Rights Law (HRL) because of her complaints of gender discrimination, the district court's judgment is: 1) affirmed in part where the city's arguments regarding the availability of reputation damages, evidentiary and instructional errors, and excessive damages for emotional distress presented no basis for disturbing the judgment; and 2) vacated in part where there was merit in plaintiff's contentions regarding the liability of the city's corporation counsel, and the district court erred in dismissing her principal gender discrimination claims under the HRL on the basis that she had suffered no materially adverse employment action.

[02/02] Lazaro v. Dep't of Veterans Affairs
On appeal of a final order of the Merit Systems Protection Board that denied the plaintiff's claim for relief under the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act, the order is vacated and the case remanded, where: 1) the Board had jurisdiction to determine whether the Veterans Administration properly afforded the plaintiff the right to compete for the job and whether it properly determined that the plaintiff was not qualified for the position; and 2) the Board committed legal error by concluding that the administrative judge properly determined that the Board lacked jurisdiction over the plaintiff's claim and that the administrative judge's analysis was not erroneous.

[02/02] Gentry v. Siegel
In bankruptcy proceedings in which former employees of the debtor filed claims for unpaid overtime wages, the district court's judgment affirming the bankruptcy court's denial of a Rule 9014 motion and its refusal to allow the claimants to pursue class actions is affirmed, where: 1) the bankruptcy court was within its discretion to rule that the bankruptcy process would provide a process superior to the class action process for resolving the claims of former employees; 2) notice of the bankruptcy process to the named claimants was not constitutionally deficient; and 3) with respect to unnamed claimants, the named claimants lacked standing to challenge the notice.

[01/31] Haybarger v. Lawrence County Adult Probation and Parole
In an employee's suit under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the district court's summary judgment in favor of the employee's supervisor is reversed, as: 1) the FMLA permits individual liability against supervisors at public agencies; and 2) the district court erred in holding that the supervisor was not an employer under the FMLA, where the record suggested that he exercised control over the conditions of the plaintiff's employment.

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