Labor and Employment Law

Subscribe to Labor and Employment Law via RSS

The EEOC’s most recent effort is an outreach program called the Youth @ Work Initiative which began in September of 2004. This is a national initiative designed to educate young/teenage employees and employers who hire teenagers. The EEOC hopes through its efforts to educate young employees about the illegality of discrimination and harassment based on sex, race, religion, national origin, or disability.
Continue Reading Youth @ Work Initiative from the EEOC

A plaintiff’s decision to quit her job is within her discretion. But the Supreme Court, in Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders, 124 S.Ct. 2342 (2004), determined that a plaintiff who quits her job after being sexually harassed by her supervisor may be able to benefit in her lawsuit from her unilateral decision.
Continue Reading Constructive Discharge May Be Considered “Tangible Employment Action” in Supervisor-Harassment Cases

In Jefferson City, Missouri, three people were killed by a plant worker at a manufacturing plant in 2003. In March 1998, four state lottery executives were killed by a Connecticut lottery accountant. In 1986, a part-time letter carrier facing dismissal walked into the post office where he worked and shot 14 people to death before killing himself. What are these event examples of?
Continue Reading Recognizing a Duty to Prevent Workplace Violence

Most employer discrimination, harassment or retaliation policies contain a clause that requires an employee who believes that he is being discriminated, harassed or retaliated against to report the incident to his immediate supervisor and/or an upper level manager, including a human resource representative. But do these managers and supervisors know what to do when an employee complains to them about such conduct?
Continue Reading Employers Must Remind Managers to Properly Respond to Internal Complaints

In-house counsel who are employed in Louisiana but are not licensed to practice law here have until July 1, 2005 to file an application for limited licensure to practice under the Louisiana Supreme Court’s new In-House Counsel Rule.
Continue Reading Louisiana In-House Counsel Rule Deadline Approaching

In 1997, the Louisiana Legislature passed the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law, La. R.S. 23:301, et seq., “LEDL.” Prior to 1997, Louisiana’s various discrimination statutes were non-uniform and scattered throughout the revised statutes. The LEDL repealed and reenacted many of Louisiana’s employment discrimination statutes as part of a single, comprehensive piece of legislation found in one Title of the Revised Statutes.
Continue Reading Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law (LEDL)

We recently reported (see page 2) that the EEOC had approved and intended to publish a rule specifically authorizing retiree health benefit plans to coordinate plan benefits with Medicare or comparable state-sponsored health benefits without violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Recently, a federal district court in Pennsylvania issued an order enjoining, or prohibiting, the EEOC from publishing or implementing the retiree health benefit regulation. AARP v. EEOC, No. 05-CV-509 (E.D. Pa. March 30, 2005), 2005 WL 723991. The EEOC has indicated its intent to appeal the recent ruling.
Continue Reading Federal District Court Enjoins EEOC Rule on Retiree Health Benefits

The United States Supreme Court ruled on March 30, 2005, in a matter of first impression, that disparate-impact claims are available to employees under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”). Smith et al. v. City of Jackson, MS, et al., No. 03-1160 (2005). In sum, this ruling allows employees to prevail in an ADEA claim against their employers without proving that the employer intended to discriminate based on the employee’s age.
Continue Reading Disparate Impact Claims Available Under the ADEA

Put this in the category of – “What’s in a name?” Or “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” An issue which arises often in the employment area is the significance of a title given to an employee or to a job. The question arises when an employer enters into a contract with someone characterized as an “independent contractor,” or the employer gives a job/position a title such as “salaried administrative.” Simply put, you cannot change the nature of an employment relationship by naming a position or entering into a contract.
Continue Reading What’s in a Name? – Significance of Employee Titles