Discrimination

Expert Analysis

• New Ruling Shows Benefits Of HR-Only Harassment Policies

  

  By recently ruling that Penguin Random House did not unlawfully retaliate by demoting a supervisor who failed to promptly report sexual harassment allegations to human resources, the Seventh Circuit provides welcome support to companies that want managers to go straight to HR instead of investigating employee complaints on their own, says Robin Shea at Constangy Brooks.

• Reproductive Rights Ruling May Thwart Employee Protections

  

  The Second Circuit's recent decision in Slattery v. Hochul — greenlighting an anti-abortion group's case against a New York law prohibiting employee discrimination related to reproductive choices — could mean trouble for certain worker statutory protections, say Grayson Moronta and Courtney Stieber at Seyfarth.

• Calif. FCRA Ruling Boosts Technical Claim Defense

  

  The California Supreme Court's recent decision to let a state appeals court's Limon v. Circle K Store opinion stand will bolster Fair Credit Reporting Act defendants' ability to assert lack of standing against technical claims in cases where plaintiffs haven't suffered concrete harm, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

• Water Cooler Talk: Quiet Quitting Insights From 'Seinfeld'

  

  Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Paradies Lagardere's Rebecca Silk about George Costanza's "quiet quitting" tendencies in "Seinfeld" and how such employees raise thorny productivity-monitoring issues for employers.

• What The 3rd McD's Ruling Means For Claims Against Officers

  

  The Delaware Chancery Court's third decision in the McDonald's stockholder litigation related to sexual harassment at the company indicates that plaintiff stockholders bringing Caremark claims against officers are not likely to be successful if the board acted properly, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

• Pros And Cons As Calif. Employers Rethink Forced Arbitration

  

  As California employers reconsider mandatory arbitration pacts following favorable high-profile federal and state court rulings, they should contemplate the benefits and burdens of such agreements, and fine-tune contract language to ensure continued enforcement, say Niki Lubrano and Brian Cole at CDF Labor Law.

• Eye On Compliance: Cross-State Noncompete Agreements

  

  The Federal Trade Commission's recent proposal to limit the application of worker noncompete agreements is a timely reminder for prudent employers to reexamine their current policies and practices around such covenants — especially businesses with operational footprints spanning more than one state, says Jeremy Stephenson at Wilson Elser.

• A DOL Reminder That ADA Doesn't Limit FMLA Protections

  

  A recent U.S. Department of Labor opinion letter and some case law make clear that the Family and Medical Leave Act fills in gaps where the Americans with Disabilities Act may not neatly apply, however the agency ignored a number of courts that have supported termination when "no overtime" restrictions effectively reduce a position to part-time, says Jeff Nowak at Littler Mendelson.

• 5 Potential Perils Of Implementing Employee Sabbaticals

  

  As companies try to retain employees with sabbatical benefits amid record-low unemployment rates, employers should be aware of several potential legal risks when considering policies to allow these leave periods, say Jesse Dill and Corissa Pennow at Ogletree.

• 4 Ways To Reboot Your Firm's Stalled Diversity Program

  

  Law firms that have failed to see real progress despite years of diversity initiatives can move forward by committing to tackle four often-taboo obstacles that hinder diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, says Steph Maher at Jaffe.

• Everyrealm Case Spurs Big Workplace Arbitration Questions

  

  If a New York federal judge's recent textualist ruling in Johnson v. Everyrealm denying arbitration of an entire employment lawsuit is appealed and upheld, it could set the stage for significant impairment of the enforcement of arbitration agreements, says Rex Berry at Signature Resolution.

• A Worker's Guide To Fighting Discriminatory Layoffs

  

  Recent mass layoffs have hit the tech industry particularly hard, and while a reduction in force can present hurdles for employees to vindicate their rights, it does not insulate employers from liability for discrimination, retaliation and other employment law violations, say attorneys at Sanford Heisler.

• McDonald's Harassment Ruling And 'Mission-Critical Risk'

  

  The Delaware Chancery Court's recent decision in the McDonald's case appears to have expanded the potential for Caremark liability beyond the parameters that many legal analysts had understood to apply, finding that maintaining workplace safety is a mission-critical risk for companies but also reinforcing the high bar for that liability, say attorneys at Fried Frank.