By: Storrs Downey & Jessica Jackler As we last reported in our December L&E Newsletter, OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring employers with at least 100 employees to mandate that all employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing was stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals […]

By: Storrs Downey & Jessica Jackler On December 21, 2021, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that beginning January 3, 2022, patrons age 5 and older will need to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 to enter restaurants, bars, indoor fitness facilities, and indoor entertainment and recreation venues where food […]

By: Jessica Jackler  In September 2019, associate Jessica Jackler published an article in CLM Magazine about vaccines in the workplace and whether employers can make them mandatory. Now more than ever, “Managing an Outbreak,” is extremely topical with the COVID-19 vaccine approval and impending distribution phases. The EEOC has recently […]

By: Jessica Jackler As a reminder, the requirement that employers provide paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) expired on December 31. The DOL has updated its guidance to advise employers that if they choose to continue to voluntarily provide […]

By: Jessica Jackler In Tonyan v. Dunham’s Athleisure Corp., No. 19-2939 (July 20, 2020), the Seventh Circuit affirmed a summary judgment ruling in favor of the employer in an ADA failure to accommodate case. The employee sued her employer because she was terminated shortly after she provided her employer with […]

By: Jessica Jackler The City of Chicago implemented an emergency travel order, effective July 6, impacting travelers coming into Chicago from states designated as high-risk for COVID-19 cases. Individuals covered by the order are required to quarantine for 14 days. The order will affect employers and employees while it is […]

By: Jessica Jackler In Kurtzhals v. County of Dunn, No. 19-3111 (7th Cir. 2020), the Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the employer in a disability discrimination claim by an employee who was put on temporary paid leave and ordered to undergo a fitness-for-duty […]

By: Jessica Jackler In Zollinger v. Wagner-Meinert Engineering, LLC, 146 N.E.2d 1060 (Ind. Ct. App. 2020), the Indiana Court of Appeals enforced a non-compete agreement barring a former employee from working for a competitor based on non-compete restrictions the employee had executed in connection with the sale of the employee’s […]

By: Jessica Jackler One potential key to successfully defend a Title VII (race, sex, national origin, etc.) claim is an evidentiary comparison between how the plaintiff employee was treated by the defendant employer in relation to other similarly situated employees outside the protected class (i.e. “comparators”). If the employee cannot […]

By: Jessica Jackler The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision in General Motors LLC, 14-CA-197985 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020) modified the standard for determining whether employees have been lawfully disciplined or discharged after making abusive or offensive statement—including profane, racist and sexually unacceptable remarks—in the course of activity otherwise […]