Current Employment Law Issues

Click on the "answerlinks" below to see what the current controversies in employment law are. Contact us if you are concerned that similar issues may create problems for you.

	Caution: The case reports below may not fully cover your issues. Some of the cases address only federal law and state law results may be different. Some cases address only state law and federal laws may be different. Always address your issues with a professional in employment law.

Disability discrimination issues:

Employees whose disabilities are corrected:

Q Are employees with poor eyesight or high blood pressure protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act if their conditions can be corrected with medication or devices?   Answer

Q Is an employee who is able to function normally when wearing a prosthetic device entitled to the protection of the ADA?  Answer


Employees who apply for Social Security disability:

Q An employee goes out on disability and is so disabled that she applies for Social Security disability claiming she is unable to do her previous work or any other substantial gainful work. The personnel director, knowing that you have to be able to work , at least with an accommodation, to have rights under the ADA decides that the filing of the Social Security disability claim is enough protection against an ADA claim since it is an admission of an inability to work, and fires the employee.The employee also files suit against her former employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act claiming the employer discriminated against her on the basis of her disability by firing her because of her disability. The lower court and court of appeals side with the personnel director and summarily dismiss the suit. The personnel director is feeling pretty good about her decision. Is the personnel director still feeling good after the Supreme Court gets done with the case?   Answer

Damages:

Punitive Damages:

Q Does an employee have to prove that an employer is guilty of egregious misconduct in order to receive an award of punitive damages under federal law? Can the employee obtain an award of  punitive damages against the company if the conduct complained of was due to the misconduct of a manager which was contrary to the company's good faith efforts to comply with the law?   Answer

Responsible Parties:

Discrmination by unions:

Q  Can a union be held liable for its part in negotiating a collective

bargaining agreement that unlawfully discriminates against older employees?  Answer

Discrimination in the church:

Q Is it lawful for a religious organization to discriminate against it s clergy under federal law?   Answer

Sex Discrimination:

Discrimination against breast feeding mothers:

Q Is an employer's failure to accommodate a breast feeding mothers need to use a pump at work a violation of federal gender or disability laws?  Answer

Discrimination in promotion against pregnant employees:
Q Does it pay to discriminate against an employee by denying a
promotion on the basis of pregnancy?  Answer

Employee Handbooks:

Employee handbook  email and internet policies:

Q What policies are the experts recommending that an employer consider putting in employee handbooks to regulate an  employee's use of e mail and the internet?  Answer

Employee handbook complaint procedures:
Q What new procedures are the experts recommending that
an employer put into handbooks to minimize company liability for sexual harassment in light of recent Supreme Court decisions?  Answer

Sexual Harassment:

Sexual harrassment investigations and employee
privacy:
Q  When does an employer look too far into the private affairs
of it's employees ?  Answer

Waiting too long to report harassment:
Q When does an employee wait too long to report sexual harassment? Answer

Age Discrimination:

Age of employee replacing victim of age discrimination:

Q If an employer replaces an employee with a substantially younger person over the age of 40, can this fact be used as evidence of age discrimination?  Answer

  Wage - Hour Issues:

Determination of what constitutes compensation for the purpose of calculating regular hourly rate to use as a base for overtime rate:

Q Does an employer have to factor in the value of stock options when calculating overtime rate?  Answer

  Religious Discrimination

Q Can an employer be found liable for violating an employees right to be free from religious discrimination if it requires its employees to follow practices prescribed by a particular religious denomination while at work? Answer