New Jersey Whistleblower Case Not Protected by State Law Whistleblowers — individuals who report mismanagement, unethical practices, and/or violations of law — are generally protected from retaliation and negative employment actions. However, this is not the situation with a recent case in New Jersey. Will this case effect similar dilemmas in other states and set […]
The One Thing You Don’t Want to Do in a Whistle Blower Case
NSA Caught Destroying Evidence in a Whistleblower Case Destroying evidence in an on-going investigation is against the law, but when the National Security Administration (NSA) destroys it as part of a whistleblower case against the NSA, that’s — what can we say? — extremely inadvisable. The Story of an NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake was a […]
How the Obama Administration May Have Improved Your Job
Workers Rights Protected by New Federal Regulations New federal regulations are here to protect employee rights. If you work for a company that does business with the federal government, you just might be seeing some changes. Under new rules and regulations laid out by the Obama Administration and the Department of Labor, workers’ rights are […]
Beware of Worker Misclassification with Subcontractors
Have you been incorrectly classified as a contractor? If you work in the construction industry for subcontractors either by taking on jobs when they need you or working full-time, beware of how they classify you. The job title they assign you could mean less money in your pocket and if you are misclassified as an […]
Federal guidance updated to reflect increased protections for pregnant employees
Federal authorities have updated guidance to reflect the increased pregnancy protections afforded in the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion Young v. UPS. In Young, the court set a new standard for claims brought under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”) for when a plaintiff has been denied an accommodation for a pregnancy-related work restriction given to others […]
New Study Finds Employers Not Hiring Women due to FMLA
FMLA Raises Issues with Gender Discrimination in Workplace Has the Family & Medical Leave Act changed the way employers hire? The Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted in 1993 in order to secure the right for employees to take leave and care for a sick or newborn family member or for an employee’s […]
Walmart sued for treatment of cancer survivor
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Walmart for disability discrimination and harassment, saying that the retailer failed to provide reasonable accommodations to a cancer survivor. The employee worked at a Walmart store in Illinois and had been disabled by bone cancer. According to the EEOC, the Walmart store initially agreed to allow the employee […]
Cheerleaders gaining more employment law protections
A bill is on its way to the California governor’s desk that would classify football and basketball cheerleaders as employees and require their teams to pay them at least minimum wage. The bill would also require overtime pay and sick leave for professional cheerleaders in California. The bill was pitched by a former college cheerleader […]
FMLA’s New Definition of Spouse Halted in Four States
United States v. Windsor Marriage Act Called into Question in Some States Do you live in a state that supports the Defense of Marriage Act? If you applauded the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor — the recent hearing and argument over the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) — and wondered what that […]
LGBT employment protection next major goal
Gay marriage is a fundamental right, protected by the U.S. Constitution and legal in all 50 states thanks to the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, announced June 26. With this landmark decision behind them, many gay rights advocates are talking about the next major goal: employment protection for people in the […]