By George J. Miller
One of the most common parts of employers' employee handbooks is a page which the employee signs acknowledging receipt of the handbook. These pages often contain statements to the effect that the employee acknowledges or agrees that the handbook is not a contract of employment and that the employment relationship is "at-will ...
By Mark C. Blackwell
The medical loss ratio ("MLR") rule under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the "ACA") is now in effect and over the next few weeks many of our clients will be receiving rebate checks from their health insurers. These checks will “come out of the blue” for many clients and will surely raise questions - - for ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
On July 24, 2012, the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, of the House Education & Workforce Committee announced that on July 25 starting at 10 a.m. it would hold a hearing concerning possible amendments to the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”). The hearing is to be chaired by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN).
By Edwin S. Hopson
In a press release issued July 2, 2012, NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon announced that he is considering another proposal to reorganize Regional Offices. Previously, Solomon announced proposed consolidations involving St. Louis, Peoria, and Winston-Salem offices.
Under the latest proposal, the Hartford ...
By Michelle D. Wyrick
The short answer is yes, for federal employees, and possibly, for others. In Macy v. Eric Holder, Agency No. ATF-2011-00751, 2012 WL 1435995, the EEOC decided that a transgender applicant’s complaint of discrimination based on gender identity was cognizable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In Macy, a ...
By George J. Miller
In a case that glaringly showed how unions are willing to advance their political agenda at the expense (literally!) of the employees they represent, today the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the employees. The case is Knox v. Service Employees International Union, Local 1000. The Court held that the First Amendment prohibits a ...
By George J. Miller
In the past year the National Labor Relations Board's Acting General Counsel, Lafe Solomon, has attracted a lot of attention in the legal and business community by issuing three memoranda describing how his office has alleged that employers have violated the rights of non-union employees by enforcing social ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
In Christopher et al. v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., d/b/a Glasxosmithkline, 567 U.S. ___ (2012), No. 11-204, decided June 18, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that certain drug sales employees are to be treated as “outside salesmen” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and therefore are exempt from ...
Since 1995, a plaintiff making an ADA claim in the Sixth Circuit could succeed only by proving that an employer based an adverse decision “solely” on the plaintiff’s disability. That changed on May 25, 2012, with the Sixth Circuit’s opinion in Lewis v. Humboldt Acquisition Corporation, Inc., Case No. 09-6381 ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
The National Labor Relations Board announced on May 27, 2012, that Board Member Terence F. Flynn, a Republican, had submitted his resignation the day before to President Obama and to NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce. Flynn’s resignation came after allegations surfaced that he had provided confidential information to former ...