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A jury in Manhattan, New York, has awarded $11.2 million to the former general manager of Leona Helmsley’s luxury Park Lane Hotel. The worker claimed he was fired because his is gay. Former manager Charles Bell charged that Helmsley embarked on a campaign of harassment against him—and ultimately discharged him after just four months on […]
On February 20, 2003, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board held a public meeting to consider a petition filed by the California Labor Federation to alter the requirements of the state’s ergonomic rule. At the meeting, the standards board voted to convene an advisory committee to consider the petition, which seeks to drop […]
Stacey Detels, a claims representative for Farmers Insurance Exchange, took several weeks off of work after learning her toddler son’s caregiver may have been physically abusing him. Detels took her son to two health care providers to evaluate him, but the providers found no need for any treatment. Detels claimed that when she returned to […]
Darcy Jensen, a module team builder for Amgen Inc., filed a workers’ comp claim as a result of health problems that she believed stemmed from exposure to laboratory animals. Several months later, the company discovered mold in the building where Jensen had worked. Jensen eventually sued Amgen under an exception to the workers’ compensation system […]
Last month, the Industrial Welfare Commission rejected a labor-backed petition to increase the state minimum wage, currently at $6.75 per hour. The California Labor Federation reintroduced the petition for IWC consideration at a February 21, 2003 public meeting. But the IWC has once again rejected the petition.
Last year, Cal/OSHA implemented new injury and illness recording rules to be phased in over five years. The new rules updated the requirements for posting, retaining and reporting work-related injuries and illnesses. Many of the key changes are taking effect in 2003—including the injury and illness information that must be posted starting in February. We’ll […]
A new California Court of Appeal decision highlights just how crucial it is to carry out workplace misconduct investigations in good faith. We’ll explain what happened.
Responding to the onslaught of court rulings on work-related arbitration agreements, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) has modified its national rules for resolving employment disputes. According to the AAA, the changes are also intended to reflect the association’s commitment to fairness for employees. Note that these rules aren’t law, but most arbitration agreements include provisions […]
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has updated its enforcement guidance concerning reasonable accommodation and undue hardship under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The revisions stem from a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that it is unreasonable for an employer to have to reassign a disabled employee if doing so would violate a seniority system, […]
Chris Schultz, a longtime maintenance worker at Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Illinois, took 12 weeks of FMLA leave over the course of a year to care for his ill parents. His father had Alzheimer’s disease and his mother had heart problems and diabetes. During this time period, the hospital implemented a new evaluation […]