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

Fired Employee Files Suit Claiming Obesity Is A Disability Under ADA

Kollman & Saucier

07/26/2013

Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination

A former employee filed suit in federal court against a Missouri car dealership last week claiming he was fired for being severely obese. Whittaker v. America’s Car-Mart, Inc., No. 1:13-cv-00108, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Plaintiff Joseph Whittaker claims that America’s Car Mart, Inc. violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it fired him because of his weight, taking the position that his severe...

Kollman & Saucier

07/23/2013

Agency Activity, Labor Law, Political Appointments

On July 18, 2013, the Senate confirmed Thomas Perez as labor secretary with a party-line vote of 54-46. Perez is currently the head of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and will replace Hilda Solis, who resigned from the top labor post in January 2013. Following his nomination in March, Republicans aggressively criticized Perez, citing to his alleged involvement in a quid pro quo arrangement between the DOJ and the City of St. Paul...

Darrell VanDeusen

07/19/2013

Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination, Labor Law

Employers sometimes have policies that, while they seem sensible, run afoul of the law. One such area is in the investigation of discrimination claims. Some employers have a policy that says something like “we will investigate a concern that you bring to our attention, but we will stop doing that if you go file with the EEOC. Then we will let the EEOC investigate. The reasoning behind the policy is that it will avoid a duplication of...

Kollman & Saucier

07/19/2013

Employment Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, State Law

A federal district court in California recently held that a male state investigator teased for wearing “girly” clothes stated a claim of sex-based harassment in violation of Title VII and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. Felix v. Calif. Dep’t of Developmental Servs., No. 1:13-cv-00561 (E.D. Cal. July 12, 2013). Robert Felix worked as a special investigator at a California state agency. In April 2013, Felix and his fellow...

Kollman & Saucier

07/18/2013

Whistleblowers

Over the past two years, several federal courts have wrestled with the scope of whistleblower protections under the Dodd-Frank Act (“DFA”), codified at 15 U.S.C. §78u-6(h). To date, all of the district courts to address the issue have held that an employee claiming whistleblower retaliation in violation of DFA need not make a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission to be protected by DFA. As a result, employees alleging that they...

Kollman & Saucier

07/17/2013

Employee Benefits

On July 11, 2013, the Fourth Circuit dismissed a constitutional challenge to the employer mandate established by the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”)), holding that it was a valid exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Cause. Liberty University Inc. v. Lew, No. 10-2347 (4th Cir. July 11, 2013). The ACA’s employer mandate requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide health care coverage to their employees and dependents, or...

Kollman & Saucier

07/12/2013

FMLA

In Hansen v. Fincantieri Marine Group, LLC, (E.D. Wis. June 14, 2013), the employee suffered from depression and had episodic flare-ups that prevented him from working. He was approved for intermittent FMLA leave based on his certification from his health care provider which advised the employee may experience “about four episodes every six months” and which would incapacitate him “two to five days per episode.” Within the first two...

Kollman & Saucier

07/05/2013

Labor Law, Supreme Court Decisions

As the recent Supreme Court term came to an end, employers were greeted with a couple of favorable decisions. On June 24th, the Court held that a “but-for” standard applies in Title VII retaliation cases and that to be a “supervisor” under Title VII, an employee must have the power to implement tangible employment actions. That same day, the Supreme Court agreed to review the D.C. Circuit’s opinion in Noel Canning Div. of Noel Corp. v....

Kollman & Saucier

07/03/2013

Employee Benefits

On July 2, 2013, the United States Department of Treasury announced in a blog post that the Obama administration will delay key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The postponement will delay the employer shared responsibility payment requirements under Code Section 4980H until 2015. The result of this delay is that employers of 50 or more full-time equivalent employees (those working 30 or more hours per week) have another year before they will...

Kollman & Saucier

07/02/2013

Age Discrimination, Employment Discrimination, Public Sector Employment Law

Earlier this year, the Court of Specials Appeals found in favor of the University of Baltimore School of Law (UB) in an age discrimination suit brought by Donald Dobkin. Dobkin v. Univ. of Balt. Sch. of Law, 210 Md. App. 580 (2013). In 2009, Dobkin applied to become a professor at the University. Instead of hiring the then 56-year-old Dobkin (or hundreds of other applicants), UB hired a 32-year-old female for the position. Dobkin then sued the...

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Email Updates

Fired Employee Files Suit Claiming Obesity Is A Disability Under ADA

Thomas Perez Confirmed As Labor Secretary; New NLRB Nominees Named

“Election of Remedies” Clause Constitutes Per Se Retaliation, Getting Employer and Union in Trouble

Male Employee Who Wears “Girly” Shirts May Have Sexual Harassment Claim

Fifth Circuit Takes Limited View of Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Protections

Fourth Circuit Upholds The Affordable Care Act Employer Mandate

Failure To Comply With The FMLA’s Recertification Procedures Ruins Employer’s Summary Judgment Chances

Supreme Court To Review Constitutionality Of Recess Appointments To The NLRB

Adminstration Delays Effective Date of ACA Penalties to 2015

Law School Has Right To Decide The Qualifications It Wants In Its Professors

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