Posts by Buckley Bala Wilson Mew LLP
Federal Appeals Court Determines Title VII Protections Against Sex Discrimination Include Sexual Orientation Discrimination
On Monday, a second federal court of appeals determined that sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 extends to and includes sexual orientation discrimination. The New York federal appeal court determined that “sexual orientation” discrimination is a subset of sex discrimination. This means that employers are prohibited from taking one’s…
Read MoreThe Importance of Cracking Down on Minimum Wage Violations
A recent investigation by Politico determined that as legislative fights continue concerning raising the minimum wage, enforcement of current minimum wage laws can be a challenge. The national minimum wage remains at $7.25/hour, with several cities and other local municipalities having higher pay rates. Despite the encouraging news that minimum wage rates are rising, many…
Read MoreAs Hiring Practices Change, Employers Must Use Care Not to Discriminate
As the workplace evolves, both in how employers seek new hires, and the day-to-day performance of tasks, it is important that employees’ basic rights are respected and are not inadvertently violated with the changing times. For example, when seeking new hires, several cases have challenged the use of certain criteria and targeting of certain demographics…
Read MoreWhistleblower Lawsuit Alleges CMO Was Terminated for Reporting Fraud
The chief medical officer of a large medical center in the southeast has just sued the hospital in a whistleblower lawsuit asserting that he fired after he testified about the hospital’s alleged improper admissions practices, patient safety concerns, and that it provided potentially fraudulent information to Medicare and Medicaid. Several different whistleblower laws exist in…
Read MoreWhere do employers make the most wage and hour mistakes?
Federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), along with numerous state and local regulations, provide wage and hour regulations employers must follow. However, the laws are constantly updating and evolving, resulting in some fairly common wage and hour mistakes. One of the leading areas where employers make errors is failing to pay employees the requisite…
Read MoreReverse Race Discrimination Lawsuit Alleges NBC Wrongfully Terminated Band Members
A new lawsuit by two NBC workers asserts “reverse” racial discrimination. The employment law case asserts that two white workers were wrongfully dismissed on the basis of their race. Allegedly, the men were fired due to “misplaced blame” and retaliation after two white and one Black member of a band that plays on a late…
Read MoreProposed changes to tip rules may deprive workers of significant earnings
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has announced that it plans to change some of the parameters concerning tipped employees, including the use of tip pools. The new policy would allow employers to pool tips as long as the employees earn minimum wage. Thus far, no announcements have been made concerning how the tips will be…
Read MoreWhat is a joint employer?
The Supreme Court has just announced its decision denying review of the recent 4th Circuit Court test for determining who is a joint employer. Whether a company/individual is a joint employer is a significant issue for many businesses and means that it may be possible to hold related businesses liable for each other’s illegal employment…
Read MoreMajority of women in computer related jobs report discrimination
A new report published by Pew Research determined that 3 out of 4 women in computer related jobs reported experiencing discrimination at work, compared to 16% of men. The types of discriminatory actions varied, with roughly one-third of participants reporting that they earned less than a man doing the same job, while others indicated that…
Read MoreFLSA Opinion Letters Re-Issued
Late last week, the Department of Labor has reinstated nearly 20 “opinion letters” that had been published during the Bush Administration, but not been followed during the Obama years. These opinions serve as guidance to employers on how the DOL will enforce certain aspects of federal labor law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The…
Read More