The Employment Brief | Employment Law | Kollman & Saucier, P.A.

No Sex Harassment Liability When Female Prison Guard Exposed to Prisoners' Display of Sexual Materials

Kollman & Saucier

11/25/2013

Is a correctional facility where inmates (but not employees) openly display sexually suggestive materials in violation of the facility’s policies a hostile work environment for a correctional officer? No, according to a November 20, 2013 ruling by the Eastern District of California. Daniels v. Cal. Dep’t of Corr. & Rehab., No. 2:10-cv-00003-MCE-AC (E.D. Cal. Nov. 20, 2013). The plaintiff in the lawsuit, Maria Aguilar, worked for the...

Kollman & Saucier

11/21/2013

Disability & Leave, Public Sector Employment Law

As regular readers of The Employment Brief are aware, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides the basis for many lawsuits filed by current and former employees. In the employment law arena, plaintiffs usually rely upon Title I of the ADA, which specifically prohibits employment discrimination based on a persons’ disability. 42 U.S.C. 12112(a). Government employees, however, sometimes rely upon Title II of the ADA when filing suit...

Kollman & Saucier

11/18/2013

Age Discrimination, Disability & Leave, FMLA

In Owens v. Calhoun County School District, No. 12-60897 (Oct. 8, 2013), the Fifth Circuit upheld a district court’s granting of summary judgment to an employer on a former employee’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claim. Karen Darlene Mann Owens taught at Bruce Upper Elementary School in Mississippi for seventeen years until she was fired in February 2010. Owens suffered from neck and back pain, conditions which worsened over the...

Kollman & Saucier

11/15/2013

Disability & Leave

It seems like even the most minor ailment can make an employee “disabled” under the ADA these days. For example, in 2010, the City of Detroit paid $100,000 to settle an accommodation claim raised by a “chemically sensitive” city worker who alleged that a coworker’s perfume and room deodorizer caused her to experience migraines, nausea and coughing. McBride v. City of Detroit, No. 2:07-cv-12794 (E.D. Mich. 2010). Last week, an...

Kollman & Saucier

11/14/2013

Wage & Hour

Over the past few years, employers have been besieged by "collective actions" filed under federal and state wage and hour laws. These lawsuits aggregate individual claims for unpaid overtime into class actions, thereby making it much more lucrative for a plaintiff's attorney to invest the time and effort into pursuing the case. In Jones v. Xerox Commercial Solutions, LLC, No. 4:13-cv-650 (S.D. Tex., November 6, 2013), a federal court in Texas...

Kollman & Saucier

11/08/2013

Employment Discrimination, Legislative Developments

On November 7, 2013, the Senate voted in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), with a bipartisan vote of 64-32. The ENDA would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The ENDA, however, is unlikely to have the same success in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where House Speaker John Boehner has voiced his opposition to the bill. The Senate last voted on legislation prohibiting...

Kollman & Saucier

11/04/2013

Voting Leave

In anticipation of tomorrow -- Election Day 2013 -- employers should be sure their policies and practices on permitting time off to vote are legally compliant. Some states have no time-off requirements while others require time off to vote, with civil or criminal penalties for employers that fail to do so. State laws vary, as well, regarding the notice, if any, an employee is required to provide regarding his or her intent to take time off to...

Kollman & Saucier

11/01/2013

Legal Developments

Money, it's a crime Share it fairly But don't take a slice of my pie - “Money” by Pink Floyd The Times They Are a-Changin' - Bob Dylan The times are changing in college athletics. Most fans of college sports know that college athletes cannot be paid for their efforts without jeopardizing their amateur status and possibly incurring (for them and their schools) severe penalties. This long held bastion of college athletics, however, is...

Kollman & Saucier

11/01/2013

Agency Activity, Labor Law

On October 29th, the Senate confirmed Richard F. Griffin Jr. as the NLRB’s new General Counsel. He replaces Lafe E. Solomon, who filed the much publicized case against Boeing. Mr. Griffin, a longtime lawyer for the International Union of Operating Engineers, previously served on the NLRB but was replaced amid controversy and litigation over whether President Obama’s recess appointments (of which he was one) were unconstitutional. Mr....

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No Sex Harassment Liability When Female Prison Guard Exposed to Prisoners' Display of Sexual Materials

Appellate Court Rejects Use of Title II of the ADA to Sue for Discrimination In Public Employment

Exhaustion of FMLA Leave with No Return Date Dooms Plaintiff’s Claims

Court Finds Odor Sensitivity May Be Disability under ADAAA

Texas Court Strikes Down FLSA Collective Action

Sexual Orientation One Step Closer To Becoming A Federally Protected Status

Election Day Politics For Employers

Court Allows Ed O’Bannon Lawsuit Against NCAA To Go Forward

Senate Confirms Former Union Lawyer as New NLRB General Counsel

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