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

The Trump Administration’s Triple Play

Kollman & Saucier

10/10/2017

Legal Developments, Legislative Developments

October is ordinarily marked by shorter days, cooler weather, vibrant foliage, and the start of the MLB postseason. Indeed, as the games began last week, the Trump administration made a triple play of its own sort with a series of major labor and employment law-related actions. Restoring a Stricter Joint Employer Standard On October 4, a House committee advanced the Save Local Business Act in order to constrict the definition of joint...

Kollman & Saucier

10/06/2017

Restrictive Covenants, Trade Secrets & Restictive Covenants

A case decided this week by a Maryland federal court highlights the importance of careful drafting when it comes to non-compete agreements. Allied Fire Protection, Inc. v. Huy Thai, No. 17-551 (D. Md. 10/2/17). In this case, Allied Fire Protection sought to enforce such an agreement when defendant Thai, a high-level employee, left to join Allied’s competitor. Specifically, the agreement prohibited Thai from directly or indirectly engaging in...

Kollman & Saucier

10/03/2017

Supreme Court Decisions

The 2017-2018 Supreme Court term could be a very significant one for employment law. With a newly constituted conservative majority, the Court is poised to decide three cases that will likely have far-reaching implications on public sector collective bargaining, class action litigation, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Are Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements Legal? The Supreme Court kicked off its fall term on...

Kollman & Saucier

10/01/2017

Hostile Work Environment, Race Discrimination

In Castleberry v. STI Group, No. 16-3131 (3d Cir. 2017), the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that a manager's one-time use of a racial slur, combined with his threat to fire a Black employee, could be enough to support a Section 1981 hostile work environment claim. Two Black laborers sued their staffing agency (STI) and the client location where they were placed (Chesapeake Energy Group) based on their treatment at Chesapeake. They were not...

Kollman & Saucier

09/27/2017

Disability & Leave, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden

Employers with employees on leave often wrestle with the situation where the employee has exhausted all leave available under policy and statute, but are still not able to return to work and seek additional time off, usually supported by a doctor's note. While the FMLA or similar statutory leave may no longer be available, I know I am often discussing with my clients whether further leave should be offered due to potential reasonable accommodation...

Kollman & Saucier

09/22/2017

Agency Activity

On September 15, 2017, the Department of Labor issued a Notice setting forth the new minimum wage applicable to federal contractors covered by Executive Order 13658. Effective January 1, 2018, the hourly wage will increase from $10.20 per hour to $10.35 per hour. The wage rate for tipped employees will also increase to $7.25 per hour. Covered contractors must advise their employees of the increase. Executive Order 13658 applies to all...

Kollman & Saucier

09/19/2017

Agency Activity, Labor Law

On September 15, 2017, President Trump appointed Peter Robb to be General Counsel of the NLRB for a four year term. Robb is a management-side attorney, who had previously served as chief counsel to former NLRB Member Robert Hunter. The General Counsel decides what actions to bring before the NLRB, and also has the authority to dismiss charges. It is widely expected that Robb will roll-back guidance promulgated by President Obama’s General...

Kollman & Saucier

09/14/2017

Disability & Leave

Remember when President George W. Bush, when discussing nuclear weapons, pronounced the word “nuclear” as “nucular”? It is probably no surprise that reading ability is important when it comes to those who work with nuclear materials. It is also unsurprising that a reasonable accommodation may be appropriate for someone who works with nuclear materials, but who also has a disability. In Sanchez v. U.S. Dep’t of Energy, No. 16-2056 (10th Cir....

Kollman & Saucier

09/12/2017

Employment Discrimination, Pregnancy Discrimination

In Young v. UPS, Inc., the Supreme Court concluded that an employee who alleges that the denial of an accommodation amounted to disparate treatment under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) may set forth a prima facie case by showing that she belongs to PDA’s protected class, she sought an accommodation, the employer refused to provide an accommodation, and the employer accommodated others “similar in their ability or inability to work.” ...

Kollman & Saucier

09/05/2017

Agency Activity, Wage & Hour

Barely more than 24 hours after we published a blog telling you there was little new to report on the Department of Labor's proposed changes to overtime regulations, something big happened: a federal judge in Texas struck the proposed rules down. Granting summary judgment to more than 55 business groups that challenged the rule, Judge Amos Mazzant ruled that the drastic increase in the salary required to be exempt -- from $23,660 to $47,476 - was...

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The Trump Administration’s Triple Play

Case Dismissed: Judge Rules Allied Fire Can’t Compete in Court

Class Actions, Collective Bargaining and a Colorado Cakeshop: Why The Supreme Court’s Fall Term Matters for Employers

When One Word Is Too Much... Single Racial Slur May Support Hostile Work Environment Claim

In A Surprising ADA Plot Twist, The Seventh Circuit Affirms Additional Leave Is Not Always The Answer!

Department of Labor Issues New Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors

President Trump Appoints Peter B. Robb to NLRB General Counsel Post

Nuclear, Nucular, and Reasonable Accommodations

Failure to Accommodate Breastfeeding Police Officer Costs Alabama City

DOL Overtime Rules: This Time, We Have Something to Report

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