Employment Law Letter

Teacher gets $95,000 after suspension for not using student’s preferred name, pronouns

Can an employer mandate that its employees address their colleagues, customers, or students by their preferred names and pronouns? That’s the million-dollar question. Or in the case of a Kansas middle school teacher who...

Oct 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Seattle enacts new independent contractor protections

Seattle’s new Independent Contractor Protections Ordinance took effect on September 1, 2022. The law requires certain employers to provide independent contractors with disclosures both before entering a contract and at...

Employers can’t mandate arbitration of sexual assault and harassment claims

Courts have long favored arbitration as a method of dispute resolution under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court reinforced the policy favoring arbitration agreements in Epic Systems Corp...

Arizona and Flagstaff minimum wage rises again on January 1, 2023

On January 1, 2022, Arizona’s minimum wage increased to $12.80 per hour, making it the sixth highest among the 50 states (according to the minimum wages posted on laborlawcenter.com). While we continue to see an increase...

The sequel: EEOC updates COVID guidance

As everyone knows, the sequel is almost always messier than the original. Guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is no exception. On July 12, the EEOC updated its COVID-19 guidance, taking...

A Quiet Place Too? How to deal with employees who are quitting in place

While COVID-19 is still with us in one form or another, the effect (at least for now) is far less severe than before. As a result, pandemic-related subsidies and assistance from the government have ended, and many...

Employer’s aggressive tactics allow court to deny enforcement of noncompete

Massachusetts enacted significant noncompete reform in 2018. Under Massachusetts law, noncompete agreements entered after October 1, 2018, can only be used and enforced if they comply with the standards of the...

4th Circuit clarifies what qualifies as similar jobs under EPA

In an unpublished opinion, a unanimous panel from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to employers in South Carolina, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia) provided some great...

Mississippi court denies former police chief’s due process appeal

Recently, the Mississippi Court of Appeals addressed a former police chief’s appeal of the City of Greenville’s decision to accept and enforce his resignation. It upheld the city’s decision and addressed the statutory...

Something off in your performance review process? Bias may be the culprit

Performance reviews (whether they’re annual, quarterly, or on some other schedule) can be fraught with flaws and weaknesses. Reviews often make both employees and managers nervous—employees because of what’s at stake...

Oct 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · California · New York · Texas · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Ideas for employers dealing with the ‘quiet quit’ phenomenon

With all the talk in recent months about “quiet quitting,” it doesn’t seem so quiet anymore. Employees who quietly have decided to just do the bare minimum at work instead of going the extra mile are making a loud...

NLRB relaxes standard for union insignias in workplace

On August 29, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a major decision that reversed a standard it set in 2019. Previously, employers enjoyed substantial discretion to limit alterations to work uniforms or...

OFCCP issues revised directive for compensation analysis

Covered federal contractors have been tasked by the federal government with preventing disparities in pay for their employees based on race, gender, and ethnicity. To prevent such disparities, the Office of Federal...

Nationwide Right to Unionize Act reintroduced

On September 8, 2022, federal Congressional legislators from Massachusetts and California reintroduced the Nationwide Right to Unionize Act, which takes aim at state “right to work” laws and attempts to increase...

Oct 31, 2022 · Employment Law Letter · California · New York · Great Lakes · Illinois · Indiana · Michigan · Ohio · Wisconsin · Mid-Atlantic · Delaware · Maryland · New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Virginia · Midsouth · Kentucky · North Carolina · South Carolina · Tennessee · West Virginia · Midwest · Arkansas · Kansas · Missouri · Oklahoma · Mountain West · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · New Mexico · Utah · Wyoming · New England · Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · Rhode Island · Vermont · Southeast · Alabama · Florida · Georgia · Louisiana · Mississippi · Upper Midwest · Iowa · Minnesota · Nebraska · North Dakota · South Dakota · West · Alaska · Arizona · Hawaii · Nevada · Oregon · Washington

Federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates: Where are we now?

Last fall, we were furiously drafting mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policies for a variety of employers, including healthcare facilities, employers with more than 100 employees, and federal contractors. With the back and...

Arkansas Stephen W. Jones of Jack Nelson Jones, PLLC, and Audra Hamilton and Nathan Read of Mitchell Williams
Kansas Boyd A. Byers, Teresa L. Shulda, and Tara Eberline of Foulston Siefkin LLP
Missouri Robert A. Kaiser, Jeremy Brenner, and Ida S. Shafaie of Armstrong Teasdale LLP
Oklahoma Charles S. Plumb, Courtney Bru, Paul Ross, Philip Bruce, and Jacob Crawford of McAfee & Taft

Delaware Lauren Russell of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP
Maryland Steven E. Bers and David M. Stevens of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, L.L.P.
New Jersey John C. Petrella and Dina M. Mastellone of Genova Burns LLC
Pennsylvania Dena Calo, Lisa Koblin, Carolyn Pellegrini, and Zachary Kimmel of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP
Virginia Jonathan Mook and Bernard J. DiMuro of DiMuroGinsberg PC

Illinois Steven L. Brenneman and Kelly Smith-Haley of Fox, Swibel, Levin & Carroll, LLP
Indiana Brian R. Garrison of Faegre Drinker
Michigan Gary S. Fealk and John T. Below of Bodman PLC
Ohio Fred G. Pressley, Jr., Jourdan D. Day, and John M. Stephen of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP
Wisconsin Saul Glazer, Troy D. Thompson, Michael J. Westcott, Leslie A. Sammon, and Heath Straka of Axley Brynelson LLP

Kentucky Richard S. Cleary, John T. Lovett, Robert D. Hudson, and Kathleen Biggs Wright of Frost Brown Todd LLC
North Carolina Richard L. Rainey of Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP
South Carolina Richard J. Morgan, James K. Gilliam, Jonathan C. Eggert, and Chandler E. Aragona of Burr & Forman LLP
Tennessee Kara E. Shea and David Johnson of Butler Snow LLP
West Virginia Larry J. Rector and Allison B. Williams of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Alabama Albert L. Vreeland and David J. Middlebrooks of Lehr Middlebrooks Vreeland & Thompson, P.C.
Florida G. Thomas Harper of The Law and Mediation Offices of G. Thomas Harper, LLC, Lisa Berg and Andrew Rodman of Stearns Weaver Miller, and Robert J. Sniffen and Jeff Slanker of Sniffen & Spellman, P.A.
Georgia Raanon Gal of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Glianny Fagundo of Thompson Hine LLP and Chris Butler of the Chris Butler Firm
Louisiana H. Mark Adams and Jennifer Kogos of Jones Walker LLP
Mississippi Martin J. Regimbal of The Kullman Firm

Employment Law Letter

Oklahoma Editors

Midwest Editors

Mid-Atlantic Editors

Delaware Editors

Maryland Editors

New Jersey Editors

Pennsylvania Editors

Virginia Editors

Great Lakes Editors

Illinois Editors

Indiana Editors

Michigan Editors

Ohio Editors

Wisconsin Editors

Midsouth Editors

Kentucky Editors

North Carolina Editors

South Carolina Editors

Tennessee Editors

West Virginia Editors

Arkansas Editors

Kansas Editors

Missouri Editors

Southeast Editors

Alabama Editors

Florida Editors

Georgia Editors

Louisiana Editors

Mississippi Editors

Upper Midwest Editors

Iowa Editors

Minnesota Editors

North Dakota Editors

Nebraska Editors

South Dakota Editors

New England Editors

Connecticut Editors

Massachusetts Editors

Maine Editors

New Hampshire Editors

Rhode Island Editors

Vermont Editors

Mountain West Editors

Colorado Editors

Idaho Editors

Montana Editors

New Mexico Editors

Utah Editors

Wyoming Editors

West Editors

Alaska Editors

Arizona Editors

Hawaii Editors

Nevada Editors

Oregon Editors

Washington Editors

California Editors

New York Editors

Texas Editors