Jury Awards $450,000 for Employer’s Termination of Employee After Receiving Notice About Anxiety Disorder
On March 31, 2022, a Kentucky jury unanimously awarded $450,000 to an employee, who was terminated following two panic attacks the employee suffered at work. The jury concluded the employee’s anxiety disorder was a disability and that the employee suffered an adverse action because of his disability. Brief Background In Berling v. Gravity Diagnostics, LLC,…
Read MoreHolding On, Loosely: Incentives for Employee Retention
Let’s talk about problems with retention bonuses and overtime—as if finding qualified workers wasn’t tough enough. According to the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nonfarm employment rose by 428,000 in April 2022. However, some sectors are still struggling and “now hiring” or “help wanted” signs are everywhere. As a result, many…
Read MoreSCOTUS to Hear FLSA Overtime Claim From Worker Who Earned $200K a Year
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision that Helix Energy Solutions Group, an oil and gas company, owed overtime pay to a former supervisor whom the court deemed non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, No. 21-984 (U.S.…
Read MoreUSCIS Announces Extension for Expiring Work Permits
Tens of thousands of foreign workers with expiring employment authorization documents (EADs) will be granted an extension of 540 days from the initial expiration date on those documents. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it will temporarily increase the automatic extension period of expiring work permits for many EAD renewal applicants. Currently, certain individuals…
Read MoreManufacturers Face Unique Problems in Accommodating Assembly Line Workers With Disabilities
As manufacturers rebound from the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and begin putting more employees back to work, they should be prepared for a corresponding increase in requests for accommodation from assembly line workers. These requests can create unique challenges in manufacturing plants due to the inherently physical nature of the work, but there…
Read MoreDOL Overtime Claims Are on the Rise
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is recovering an increasing amount of damages in overtime claims as it goes after employers that are misclassifying workers or miscalculating overtime. The Biden administration has signaled a shift in focus away from compliance and toward enforcement. One of the earliest indications of that shift was the termination of…
Read MoreEmployer’s Refusal to Reinstate Worker After 12-Month Leave Ends in $315K Settlement
An employer has agreed to pay $315,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging it allowed an employee to take about 12 months of medical leave but then fired him once he was able to return to work, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The employee was out of work for nearly a year, according…
Read MoreStrong Pay, Onboarding Strategies Crucial as Workers Maintain ‘Upper Hand,’ Recruiting Firm Says
Employee confidence is high, making it crucial that employers prioritize pay and a robust onboarding experience, a March reportfrom recruiting firm Employ Inc. concluded. Thirty-five percent of job seekers responding to a survey said it’s easier to find a job this year than last year. And one-third said they’d be comfortable quitting their job without…
Read MoreOSHA Proposes Expanding Electronic Recordkeeping Rule to Add Smaller Employers
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published a proposed rule to restore and expand Obama-era requirements for high-hazard employers with at least 100 employees to submit their injury and illness forms electronically to the agency. In 2016, OSHA promulgated an electronic recordkeeping rule, Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses Rule, which required…
Read MoreIntersection of ADA, COVID-19 Requires Creative Reopening Policies, EEOC Official Says
The EEOC has received hundreds of charges involving both COVID-19 vaccination and the ADA, according to Evangeline Hawthorne, the agency’s Tampa field office director. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has received thousands of charges related to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. As of December 2021, more than 2,700 charges were related to COVID-19 vaccines,…
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