By Edwin S. Hopson
The U.S. Senate on December 24, 2009, refused to confirm the nomination of Craig Becker whom President Obama nominated to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board. Becker, a Democrat and associate general counsel for the Service Employees International Union and AFL-CIO, was one of a three-person package nominated on ...
By George J. Miller
As if the flood of information and guidance from OSHA and the CDC were not enough to help employers and employees deal with the threat of H1N1 in the workplace, Congress has now gotten into the act. On November 3rd, the Emergency Influenza Containment Act (H.R. 3991) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. This ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
On December 7, 2009, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis laid out her “vision” in the Fall 2009 Regulatory Plan for the Labor Department’s mission of ensuring “there are good jobs for everyone.” [Emphasis in the original]. Secretary Solis described a “series of 12 specific strategic outcomes” which she hopes ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
On December 10, 2009, the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved en masse eight persons nominated by President Obama to fill positions at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Rehabilitation Services Administration at the Department of Education and the Women’s Bureau ...
By Debra Dawahare
In a published decision issued on November 20, 2009, the Kentucky Court of Appeals has upheld the Bullitt Circuit Court’s award of over $6 Million to two former employees of the Mt. Washington McDonald’s. In its decision in McDonald’s Corporation v Ogborn, the court considered a truly bizarre situation.
Between 1994 and ...
By Kim Koratsky
On December 3, 2009, the U.S. House passed a bill that will make the nation’s flight attendants and pilots eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave time each year under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This legislation has already passed the Senate (by unanimous consent) on November 10, and is expected to be signed by the ...
By Michelle D. Wyrick
Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”) became effective on November 21, 2009. Title II of GINA prohibits the use of genetic information in making employment decisions, limits employers’ acquisition and disclosure of genetic information, and prohibits retaliation against individuals ...
By Leila G. O'Carra
In the fable “The Monkey and the Cat,” the Monkey tricked the Cat into pulling tasty chestnuts out of a fire. The Monkey then ate all of the chestnuts and the Cat got a severely burned paw.
In employment law, the “cat’s paw” theory of liability applies when a neutral ultimate decision-maker acts as the conduit of a biased ...