Author: Indiana Employment Law Letter

EEOC to update guidance on English-only policies?

by Amanda Shelby Chief among the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) current priorities are (1) eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring and (2) protecting immigrant, migrant, and other vulnerable workers. It therefore should come as no surprise that the EEOC might be setting its sights on revising its guidance relating to English-only policies since those […]

‘My meds made me do it’: medication side effects and the ADA

by Connor Beatty Sometimes an employee who isn’t making the grade may blame his lackluster performance on the side effects of certain medication he’s taking. Although managers may express some skepticism about that excuse, there are times when a cause-and-effect relationship might exist. That appears to have been the case for a Maine lawyer whose […]

Rental car company can’t drive off employee’s suit

by Brian J. Kurtz Is it technically race discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if you terminate an Assyrian employee because you think he is an Arab? An Illinois district court recently faced that question.   Less than courteous Afram Boutros, an Assyrian of Lebanese descent, went to work for […]

Understanding the effect of stress and burnout

It’s no secret that since the recession many workers have found themselves expected to do more with less. They’ve seen wage and hiring freezes as well as cutbacks in benefits. They’ve also worked under a cloud – knowing that their jobs could disappear in the next round of layoffs.  As the economy begins to recover, […]

Oklahoma prohibition on same-sex marriages found unconstitutional

by Charles S. Plumb The last several months have witnessed a flurry of court activity regarding same-sex marriage laws. On Tuesday, January 14, Oklahoma joined that activity with an order and opinion issued by Tulsa’s federal court. In 2004, Oklahoma voters approved an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution defining “marriage” to be exclusively a union […]

American Idol’s ‘cold-hearted’ background check practices

by Kylie Crawford TenBrook The new season of American Idol begins tonight. While viewers are getting acquainted with a new panel of judges and group of contestants, Fox attorneys are battling charges from former contestants.  In July, 10 black former American Idol contestants filed a 429-page discrimination complaint against Fox and the show’s production company […]

Christie bridge scandal raises questions for managers

by Dan Oswald If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve undoubtedly heard about what is now being called “Bridgegate.” (I, for one, am tired of “gate” getting added to every controversy and scandal, but I’ll leave that rant for another day.) It seems that one of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s top aides, […]

Access to information in labor relations: jurisdiction of arbitrators

By Édith Charbonneau and Antoine Aylwin One of your unionized employees files a complaint for psychological harassment and requests to access your investigation report several years later. When you refuse, the employee turns to the Quebec information and privacy board to get that access. But does the information and privacy board have jurisdiction, or could […]

Punter’s legal claims may be blocked

When they asked me to join the rotation of writers for Ford Harrison’s EntertainHR blog, I was a little nervous. After all, while we Minnesotans make headlines for things like our weather (the high temperature here last Monday was 13 degrees below zero) and electing professional wrestlers to high political office, we haven’t had a […]

HR’s flu season concerns: absenteeism, presenteeism, vaccinations, and employment law

by Michael Barnsback According to the Centers for Disease Control, the flu season “most commonly peaks in the U.S. in January or February.” In its last weekly flu advisory report, the agency reported that flu is widespread in more than half of the country and many states are reporting severe outbreaks. The CDC says “the […]