Labor & Employment Developments Blog

On March 3, 2022, the President signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. A product of the Me Too Movement, the new law allows individuals bringing sexual assault and sexual harassment claims who entered into predispute arbitration agreements or class- or collective-action waivers to reject those agreements and waivers and bring those claims in court and via a class or collective action. The law applies to any claims arising after the date of enactment. 

The so-called gig economy is subject to a great deal of uncertainty in the labor and employment law context. The key issue is whether workers are properly classified as employees and subject to various labor and employment laws or whether they are independent contractors with a lot of flexibility but far less legal protection. This is not a new issue but the prevalence and popularity of gig economy businesses like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and others have brought the issue into the spotlight.

The traditional test for independent contractor status is multifactored and focuses on the issue of ...

In this new podcast episode, recent cases and news from the world of Labor & Employment Law will be discussed, including:

Religious Accommodation: New cases addressing employer obligations in the area of religious accommodations under Title VII are discussed as well as the EEOC’s new guidance on COVID-19 vaccination accommodations, which was issued on March 1, 2022. 

You can find the EEOC’s complete guidance here.

The new vaccine accommodation guidance begins at Letter “L” – scroll down.

Social Media: The media recently reported on the termination of a longtime ...

In this new podcast episode, recent cases and news from the world of Labor & Employment Law will be discussed, including:

The NFL Discrimination Lawsuit: The NFL and three teams are being sued for discrimination in hiring and the allegations include an alleged sham interview that accidentally came to light due to an errant text message. 

The Resignation of CNN President Jeff Zucker: In another major story, the president of CNN has resigned due to the disclosure of a consensual workplace relationship with another employee. 

What can employers learn from these stories?

Listen to the new ...

Ever since the Sixth Circuit dissolved the injunction to OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which mandates employers with 100 employees or more to require employees be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing and wear masks, all eyes have turned to the Supreme Court for intervention.  After hearing oral arguments on this issue on January 7, 2022, today the Court acted. In a per curiam opinion (an opinion issued in the name of the Court rather than a specific Justice), the Court reinstituted the stay which had been dissolved by the Sixth Circuit. Following the Sixth Circuit’s ...

In honor of the famous holiday song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, this episode will cover twelve thoughts on the vaccine mandates, including:

1. Current status of the mandates;
2. The Supreme Court’s consideration of the OSHA rule;
3. Timing issues created by the OSHA rule;
4. Steps for employers before the deadlines;
5. The costs associated with compliance;
6. Handling accommodation requests;
7. Issues with turnover;
8. Issues with noncompliant employees;
9. State and local laws;
10. Impact of mandates on smaller businesses;
11. Union issues;
12. Communication with employees.

Listen to the new episode of The ...

On Friday evening, employers were delivered updates on two of the federal vaccine mandates, courtesy of the Eleventh and Sixth Circuits. 

The holidays are here again and they represent a minefield for employers. It seems that every year the period of time from mid-November through the end of the year is guaranteed to generate employment litigation. With that in mind, let’s look to Charles Dickens’ beloved character Ebenezer Scrooge to give us some holiday employment law advice on 5 topics.

Hardly a day goes by without some update on the status of the various federal vaccine mandates. As of today, the OSHA ETS, the CMS Rule and the Federal Contractor Rule are all stayed nationwide.

While the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard mandating vaccines for employers with over 100 employees has dominated the news, there are two other federal mandates that impact many employers: the federal contractor rule issued via executive orders and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Rule applicable to medicare and medicaid recipients. In this episode, the current status of these rules will be discussed along with some thoughts on what employers should be doing right now to comply or prepare to comply with the rules.