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The employees acknowledged that Mass General Brigham granted religious or medical exemptions to at least 234 employees. Mass General Brigham employees failed to convince the First Circuit to issue an injunction pending appeal of a district court’s de...
LABOR PULSE—Rethinking Private-Sector Unionism’s Road in 2022
November 19, 2021
Dr. Jim Castagnera, Esq.
In this month’s Labor Pulse, Jim Castagnera takes a look at private-sector unions, whether they are at an “extinction threshold,” and whether women in leadership roles might change that. This month, Dr. Jim Castagnera considers whether “decimated” pr...
Note to Subscribers
November 19, 2021
Labor and Employment Law Daily will not publish next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. However, we will issue breaking news alerts should there be major developments on Monday or Tuesday of significance to our subscribers. We will resume publicat...
EXPERT INSIGHTS—Florida passes legislation banning vaccine mandates: What employers need to know
November 19, 2021
Megan L. Janes & Alex Castro
The law applies to all private employers in Florida, regardless of size. During a special legislative session, Florida just passed a new law banning private employers from mandating COVID-19 vaccines unless several exemptions are offered to employees...
EXPERT INSIGHTS—Impact of the Fifth Circuit's Swales decision on the FLSA collective action certification process
November 19, 2021
Lionel Schooler
The federal court in the Northern District of Texas in Dallas recently applied the new Swales certification prescription in Helgason et al v. Perry's Restaurants, Ltd . Employers confronted with Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims as to their oper...
EXPERT INSIGHTS—New York Department of Labor attempts to prohibit drug testing for cannabis, employment actions against some employees who are impaired at work
November 19, 2021
Craig B. Simonsen & Adam Young & Robert T. Szyba, Robert S. Whitman
Seyfarth Synopsis : The New York Department of Labor published “Frequently Asked Questions ” which address occupational cannabis issues under the adult-use cannabis and the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) . New York State has legalized m...
DISCRIMINATION—AGE—7th Cir.: University athletic directors rejected coaching applicant due to his poor phone interview, not his age
November 19, 2021
Marjorie Johnson, J.D.
The plaintiff’s poor phone interview led the entire committee to unanimously agree to end his candidacy for the position. A 56-year-old applicant for a head baseball coach position at a university who did not get past the interview stage of the hirin...
DISCRIMINATION—DISABILITY—E.D. La.: Sheriff granted summary judgment against disparate treatment claims of deputy with PTSD
November 19, 2021
Ronald Miller, J.D.
The employee produced no evidence that any doctor or therapist had ever indicated that his arrest was attributable to his PTSD. Although a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office suffered from PTSD stemming from his military service, the sheriff did not...
DISCRIMINATION—RACE—D. Ariz.: Amazon HR employee advances some claims of race and sex bias
November 19, 2021
Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
She claimed the discrimination began even before she started her job, when she was told she could not be hired as an HR manager because preference was given to internal candidates. Many of the claims of race discrimination, retaliation, and FMLA viol...
DISCRIMINATION—RELIGIOUS—E.D. Wis.: LPN fired for refusing COVID-19 testing advances religious bias claim
November 19, 2021
Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
She asked for an exemption from the policy requiring regular testing, claiming that her Hebrew Roots religion required her to decline medical intervention in the absence of sickness. An LPN who worked at a skilled nursing facility and was fired after...
EMPLOYEE LEAVE—11th Cir.: Surgeon fired for refusing trauma patients, not in retaliation for FMLA leave
November 19, 2021
George Basharis, J.D.
The employee failed to show she was terminated from her position for exercising her FMLA rights and not for violating employer policy. An employee working as a trauma surgeon for a health system lost her claim for wrongful termination against her emp...
EMPLOYEE LEAVE—E.D. Ky.—Employee’s temporal proximity argument failed to establish causal link between her FMLA leave and termination
November 19, 2021
Robert Margolis, J.D.
Temporal proximity is measured from the time the employer learns of the employee’s exercise of a protected right, not from the time that the FMLA leave ends. A federal district court in Kentucky granted an employer’s motion for summary judgment, dism...
LABOR—NLRB WEEKLY SUMMARY—Weekly summary of NLRB decisions
November 19, 2021
WK Editorial Staff
The Summary of NLRB decisions for the week of November 8 - 12, 2021 is now available on the NLRB’s website. The summary can be accessed by clicking this link . Cases: AgencyNews Labor NLRBWeeklySummary
WAGE-HOUR—SETTLEMENTS—S.D.W.Va.: $11.9 million settlement approved in FLSA case brought by pharmaceutical delivery drivers
November 19, 2021
Ursula Furi-Perry, J.D.
Proposed settlement of claims, along with attorney’s fees, was fair and reasonable in bona fide suit based on minimum wage and overtime compensation issues. A settlement of minimum wage and overtime compensation claims brought by delivery drivers who...
WORTH NOTING—Recent developments involving race and national origin discrimination
November 19, 2021
WK Editorial Staff
A roundup of recent decisions involving race and national origin discrimination claims of interest to the labor and employment law community. 3d Cir.: Work conditions were not “intolerable” enough for resignation. A recently hired HR director resigne...
DOJ NEWS—Donut franchise will pay $3K penalty, back pay to resolve work authorization discrimination claim
November 19, 2021
Pamela Wolf, J.D.
The manager unlawfully insisted that a worker’s Social Security card and valid driver’s license were not acceptable documents and that an unexpired permanent resident card was required to begin working. Under a Department of Justice settlement agreem...
FEDERAL LEGISLATION—BE HEARD Act reintroduced to curb sexual harassment in the workplace
November 19, 2021
Pamela Wolf, J.D.
The legislation never made it beyond committee assignment in the last Congress. On November 17, 2021, Democrats reintroduced the “Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination (BE HEARD) in the Workplace Act o...
FEDERAL LEGISLATION—Build Back Better Act clears House with paid leave and worker protection reinforcements
November 19, 2021
Pamela Wolf, J.D.
The “once-in-a-generation package to invest in our nation’s workers, families, and economy” now faces a tough battle in the Senate. After an overnight delay credited to Republicans, the House on the morning of November 19, 2021, passed the Build Back...
OSHA NEWS—Company must pay $24K to driver purportedly fired for refusing to exceed safe driving limits
November 19, 2021
WK Editorial Staff
OSHA found that the employee had worked 19 hours the day before and could not get the required time off before returning to work, making it unsafe to operate a vehicle. Following a whistleblower investigation, OSHA has ordered Crane Masters Inc. to p...
OSHA NEWS—Employers face $700K in penalties for amputations, toxic exposure, repeated fall hazards
November 19, 2021
Jonathan Anderson
One worker lost two fingers by amputation at a Wisconsin foundry, while another worker there was struck by equipment. After two employees at a Wisconsin foundry were injured on the job—one who had two fingers amputated and another who was struck by a...
WHITE HOUSE NEWS—Biden signs Executive Order ensuring availability of qualified federal service workers
November 19, 2021
Glenn Borst, J.D.
The Order requires that, when a federal service contract transitions to a new contractor, workers under the original contract be offered positions under the new contract before jobs are offered to anyone else. President Biden on November 18, 2021 sig...