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The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals—which covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota—recently affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a nurse’s lawsuit against her employer and its insurer, in which she claimed that the denial of insurance coverage for her son’s gender reassignment treatment amounted to sex discrimination.
Leaks are everywhere. They happen in politics, in sports, in the entertainment industry, in people’s everyday lives, and (unfortunately for many of us, myself included) in the roofs and pipes in our homes. How do we know that Kyrie Irving wants a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers? Someone leaked it to a reporter. We know […]
by Paul Côté-Lépine In a number of Canadian jurisdictions, when conducting a collective dismissal or mass termination, an employer will have significant obligations that include giving increased notice of the collective dismissal or providing payment in lieu of and equivalent to that notice. In a number of Canadian provinces, legislators have enacted a precise definition […]
No employer wants to be the target of federal regulators on the hunt for workers not authorized to hold jobs in the United States. And no employer wants to be vulnerable to a national origin discrimination lawsuit. But both potential problems can be the result if an employer handles the employment verification process poorly. Recent […]
by Elizabeth B. Bradley It’s that time of year—summer vacations are wrapping up, and your employees’ children and grandchildren are heading back to school. Now is a good time for a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) refresher, with a focus on the requirements for leave related to school activities and child care, for which […]
by David G. Wong In its recent decision in Razo v. Essilor Canada, 2017 BCHRT 133, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal dismissed the argument that an employer could not accept the resignation of a long-term disabled employee without making further inquiries. In this case, the complainant, Helen Razo, filed a complaint alleging discrimination on […]
The definition of “joint employment” may be heading for another turnaround. Legislation introduced in Congress on July 27 takes aim at a 2015 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision that raised the ire of many in the business community, especially employers that work with franchisees, contractors, and staffing agencies.
A number of court cases have illustrated how employers can find themselves in trouble for comments written via email by managers or other decision-makers that indicate an employee’s protected status (e.g., sex, race, age, or taking qualified leave) played a role in the decision to fire them. But here we present a unique scenario that […]
It may seem a no-brainer for an employer looking to fill a supervisory position to offer the job to one of the nonsupervisory stars in the organization. Promoting from within can be a smart choice for many reasons, but the transition from underling to supervisor also can be problematic if management doesn’t take steps to […]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed an amicus brief in the case of an employee who claimed his employer violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when it discriminated against him on the basis of his sexual orientation. The DOJ’s brief asserts that Title VII’s prohibition of sex discrimination does not extend to […]