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

Nine Employment Cases Appear On The Supreme Court's 2015-16 Docket

Kollman & Saucier

10/02/2015

When the Supreme Court begins its 2015-16 Term on October 5, 2015, it will have nine different employment cases to consider. In Heffeman v. City of Paterson, No. 14-1280, the Court will consider a police officer's claim that his supervisors violated his First Amendment rights by demoting him because of his perceived political preferences. In MNH Gov't Services Inc. v. Zaborowski, No. 14-1458, the Court will decide whether a California state court...

Kollman & Saucier

09/29/2015

Disability & Leave, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden

This past weekend, I became a proud first-time father of a beautiful baby girl! Among the many helpful and prescient pieces of advice my wife Mikah and I received from others during her pregnancy were variations on the theme of, “Get sleep while you can.” Words of wisdom, indeed. Recently, however, a college professor argued that his difficulty in getting a restful night’s sleep was not only an inconvenience but one that rendered him disabled...

Kollman & Saucier

09/23/2015

Employment Discrimination, Race Discrimination

It was a victory for train giant Amtrak last week when the D.C. Circuit held that no reasonable jury could find Amtrak’s termination of a black engineer for failure to obey a stop signal was a pretext for race discrimination. (Burley v. Nat’l Passenger Rail Corp., D.C. Cir., No. 14-7051, 9/18/15). In this case, Plaintiff Burley operated a train that was forced off the track after it passed a blue stop signal. Passing a blue signal is considered a...

Kollman & Saucier

09/20/2015

Unpaid Interns, Wage & Hour

Unpaid interns have long been a questionable group from a wage and hour risk perspective. In Schumann v. Collier Anesthesia, P.A., No. 14-13169 (11th Cir. 2015), the Eleventh Circuit joined the Second and Sixth Circuits in setting aside the "antiquated" Department of Labor six-factor internship analysis in favor of a more stringent "primary beneficiary" test. In Schumann, 25 unpaid student registered nurse anesthetists participated in a clinical...

Darrell VanDeusen

09/18/2015

Wage & Hour

That headline makes no sense, right? Well, according to the Fifth Circuit, it’s possible that employees who are required to take meal breaks away from their posts (or desk or cubicle, I suppose), may be entitled to pay for the time they spend “in transit” to the break site. Naylor v. Securiguard, Inc., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 16421 (5th Cir. Sept. 15, 2015). Security guards at the Mississippi U.S. Naval Air Station Meridian are required to...

Darrell VanDeusen

09/15/2015

FMLA

Jessica Brown was fired five days after she complained about what she considered a demotion due to her use of pregnancy leave. She then sued her employer, alleging among other things a violation of both the discrimination/retaliation and interference/entitlement prongs of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The district court granted summary judgment to her employer and she appealed. Reviewing that judgment, the Eighth Circuit reversed the...

Kollman & Saucier

09/11/2015

Agency Activity

On September 11, 2015, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued its Final Rule in response to Executive Order 13665. The Rule, which can be found here, is codified at 41 CFR Part 60 and becomes effective in 120 days. The Rule prohibits federal contractors (or subcontractors) with contracts (or subcontracts) worth over $10,000 from discriminating against employees (including supervisors) or job applicants...

Kollman & Saucier

09/10/2015

Disability & Leave

On Labor Day, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing paid sick leave for contractors and subcontractors of the federal government. The Order can be found here, and the Fact Sheet can be found here. Citing the fact that an estimated 44 million workers do not have paid sick leave, and the ostensible benefits of reduced turnover and increased productivity, the President travelled to Boston (Massachusetts already requires paid sick...

Kollman & Saucier

09/01/2015

Agency Activity, Labor Law

In a move less surprising for its outcome than the breadth of its likely effects, President Obama’s NLRB adopted, by a 3-2 vote, a new standard for joint employers in Browning-Ferris Industries. Case 32-RC-109684 (Aug. 27, 2015). The aftershocks of the Board’s decision, which overturned three decades of stable case law, may very well revamp the landscape of collective bargaining. Section 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)...

Kollman & Saucier

08/25/2015

Employment Discrimination

In Zamora v. City of Houston, No. 14-20125 (Aug. 19, 2015), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that it is unlawful to retaliate against an employee because a close family member engaged in protected activity. The court further held that a plaintiff-employees may prove a retaliation claim by showing that a person with retaliatory motive influenced the actual decision maker to take an adverse employment action (the cat’s paw theory of...

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Nine Employment Cases Appear On The Supreme Court's 2015-16 Docket

Court Puts "Difficulty Sleeping" Disability Claim to Rest

D.C Circuit Derails Discrimination Claim Brought by Engineer Who Ran Train Off the Tracks

Unpaid Student Nurses Get Clearance To Proceed With Wage Claims

Time To Get To Take A Meal Break May Be Compensable

Eighth Circuit Splits The Baby In Permitting FMLA Claims To Proceed

New OFCCP Rule Will Prohibit Rules Limiting Salary Discussions

President Signs Executive Order Requiring Paid Sick Leave for Contractors

Obama NLRB Overhauls “Joint Employer” Standard

Court Upholds Retaliation Claim Where Disciplinary Panel Was Influenced By Biased Supervisors

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