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 […]

By: Jessica Jackler On September 11, the DOL issued revised regulations under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) following a New York federal court’s ruling that invalidated certain provisions of the FFCRA. The revised regulations became effective September 16. The revised regulations specifically address four issues: Whether FFCRA leave may […]

By: Jessica Jackler Since the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was enacted on April 1, it feels as though the DOL has updated its guidance on an almost daily basis. What started out as a couple dozen or so questions and answers explaining the hastily drafted Act, has now […]

By: Jessica Jackler On June 17, the EEOC updated its Coronavirus Technical Assistance Questions and Answers, specifically addressing the use of antibody tests under the ADA. The guidance concludes that in light of recent interim guidelines from the CDC, employers requiring antibody testing before allowing its employees to re-enter the […]

By: Storrs Downey & Jessica Jackler In a long-awaited landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling on June 15, holding that Title VII protects LGBTQ workers against discrimination. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion in the 6-3 ruling, which decided three employment discrimination cases involving the reach […]

By: Cary Schwimmer In Carrethers v McCarthy, Case No. 19-5712 (May 28, 2020), the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals confirmed that an employer may legitimately fire an employee if it believes that the employee falsified allegations of misconduct directed against him or her.  Carrethers, a civilian employee who worked […]

By: Jessica Jackler As a result of the pandemic, the EEOC will delay its pay data collections until 2021. The delay impacts private sector employers, EEO-1 filers. The EEOC is delaying the collections until 2021 to help ensure that employers are better positioned to provide accurate, valid and reliable data […]