Now more than ever, pay and promotion issues are tremendously important to employers. Fair pay and equal work opportunities to all employees, regardless of gender, race, national origin or any other protected characteristic, is a top priority of the new administration. Signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which extended the statute of limitations for filing alleged discriminatory pay and promotion claims, was President Obama’s first legislative act as President. Recent events in Congress, including the introduction of additional legislation aimed at ensuring equal pay and advancement opportunities, paired with aggressive regulatory initiatives, are strong signals that the question is not “if” pay and promotion discrimination claims will rise, but when and how high. Our attorneys are fully prepared to help employers maneuver through the special challenges these cases present.
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For those who thought the proposed Paycheck Fairness Act had faded away, here is a wake-up call. After more than a year since the bill was passed by the House of Representatives and introduced in the Senate, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is holding a new hearing on March 11 to focus on equal pay issues.
Continue Reading...A new proposed rule by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provides new guidance in determining what constitutes a “reasonable factor other than age” in defending against a claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The EEOC introduced the proposed rule on February 18, 2010 and is currently soliciting comments until Monday, April 19, 2010.
Continue Reading...Both the Third and the Seventh Circuits are set to address the issue of whether collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act are compatible with class actions under state wage and hour laws. In the Third Circuit, briefing is underway in Parker v. NutriSystem, Inc., No. 09-3545. And argument is set in the Seventh Circuit for April 2, 2010 in Ervin v. OS Restaurant Servs., Inc., No. 09-3029. Both courts will address what some have called the “inherent incompatibility” of FLSA collective actions and state law wage and hour class actions that are pursued in the same case.
Continue Reading...California employers should take note that this week, the California Supreme Court limited benefits offered under California's kin care laws and held that kin care benefits do not apply to uncapped sick leave plans.
Continue Reading...In another case in which better employer documentation could have made the difference, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed earlier this month a district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of employer Kmart. Based largely upon contradictory and unclear documentation, the court found that Kmart’s former employee, Susan Cutcher, presented sufficient evidence to allow a reasonable juror to find that Kmart terminated Ms. Cutcher in retaliation for taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Continue Reading...In an order issued on February 9, 2010, a United States District Judge in Iowa sent a stark reminder to the EEOC that its statutory obligations to investigate and conciliate Title VII claims are not to be ignored. More than three years after the EEOC filed its complaint alleging systemic sex harassment, the court, in its February 9 order, awarded Defendant CRST Van Expedited, Inc. ("CRST") $4.5 million in attorneys' fees and $460,000.00 in expenses as a prevailing party, following a finding that the EEOC abandoned its statutory obligations under Title VII.
Continue Reading...The Obama Administration announced on February 1, 2010, that it requested $385.3 million for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for fiscal year 2011. In addition, the administration requested $162 million for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Significantly, the requests represent an $18 million dollar budget increase for the EEOC and a $17 million dollar budget increase for the DOJ Civil Rights Division.
Continue Reading...In a short and simple opinion by Judge Morton Greenberg, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of Johnson & Johnson against pharmaceutical sales representative Patti Lee Smith, finding that the FLSA’s administrative employee exemption applied to her. The Third Circuit is the first court of appeals to examine the FLSA exempt status of pharmaceutical sales representatives. The ruling in favor of the employer represents a significant development for pharmaceutical companies around the country, many of whom are facing similar FLSA lawsuits brought by their pharmaceutical sales representatives.
Continue Reading...President Obama’s proposed $3.8 trillion federal budget for 2011 includes $117 billion for the U.S. Department of Labor. The Department’s Wage and Hour Division, which will receive $244 million under the new budget (an increase of almost $20 million from last year), pledges to use the money to increase its number of investigators, to train investigators to detect misclassification of workers as independent contractors, and to focus on industries where misclassification is most prevalent.
Continue Reading...National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Nominee Craig Becker needed 60 Senate votes to overcome the Republican-led filibuster blocking his confirmation, but he only received 52 votes on Tuesday. Two Democrats, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.), went against their party to vote him down in the cloture vote, which failed 52-33.
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