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Employment Class and Collective Action Update

Snooze and Lose: Defendants Need to Raise Plaintiffs’ Failure to File Charge Early in Litigation

By Nadine C. Abrahams, John M. Nolan, Paul Patten & Jackson Lewis P.C. on June 4, 2019

The requirement under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that a complainant file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) prior to filing suit in federal court is a prudential, claim-processing rule that does not determine whether a court has subject-matter jurisdiction over the dispute, the U.S. Supreme Court has held in a unanimous ruling. Click here to access our article discussing this.…

Healthcare Workplace Update

Sexual Harassment in Hospitals: Interns, Residents, Students, Attending Physicians: How to Navigate a Troublesome Problem Among a Diverse Workforce

By Jackson Lewis P.C. on May 13, 2019

Much has been written lately about the #MeToo movement and its presence in workplaces as diverse as universities, movie and TV studios. Hospitals are no exception. Savvy employers know that hospitals—large facilities that employ people of all educational backgrounds, races, religions, sexual orientations, ages, and more—can be ground zero for sexual harassment at any time. Differences in attitudes towards the surging #MeToo discourse can prove a perfect opportunity to review policies, state, local and federal…

Employment Class and Collective Action Update

U.S. Supreme Court: Employment Class Arbitration Must Be Expressly Addressed in Contract

By Eric R. Magnus, Samia M. Kirmani, David E. Nagle, Brendan Sweeney, Stephanie L. Goutos, Abraham N. Saiger & Jackson Lewis P.C. on April 25, 2019

Class action arbitration is such a departure from ordinary, bilateral arbitration of individual disputes that courts may compel class action arbitration only where the parties expressly declare their intention to be bound by such actions in their arbitration agreement, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-4 decision. Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, No. 17-988 (Apr. 24, 2019). The Supreme Court said, “Courts may not infer from an ambiguous agreement that parties have…

Pay Equity Advisor Blog

Federal Paycheck Fairness Act Reintroduction in House and Senate

By Jackson Lewis P.C. on February 15, 2019

First introduced in Congress in 1997, and several times since, the Paycheck Fairness Act is again under consideration by Congress (S. 270/H.R. 7). If enacted, the bill would attempt to close the gender pay gap by: Implementing a wage history ban With limited exceptions, employers would be prohibited from requesting or relying on the wage history of a prospective employee. Limiting employers’ defenses against a claim of unequal pay To defend a claim, an employer…

California Workplace Law Blog

Independent Contractor Test the Subject of Two California Assembly Bills

By Jackson Lewis P.C. on January 25, 2019

In 2018, the California Supreme Court issued an opinion (Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County) establishing a new standard (“ABC test”) for determining whether an individual is an independent contractor or employee in the context of claims brought under the State’s Industrial Welfare Commission’s wage orders. The result is a broader definition of who qualifies as an employee for the purpose of a claim brought under a wage order. Under…

Healthcare Workplace Update

U.S. Department of Labor’s Investigation of Arizona Hospital Highlights Need for Awareness of Workplace Lactation Accommodation Laws and Policies

By Jackson Lewis P.C. on December 18, 2018

As the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), a hospital in Arizona was recently ordered to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requirement that employers must provide nursing mothers adequate time and space to express breast milk. The WHD announced on December 11 that it entered into a compliance agreement with Yuma Regional Medical Center requiring the employer to provide training to all supervisors,…

Pay Equity Advisor Blog

Federal Circuit Urged to Reconsider Prima Facie Showing Required for Equal Pay Act Claim

By Jackson Lewis P.C. on November 28, 2018

As previously reported here, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held in September that Equal Pay Act (EPA) plaintiffs must show not only that they are receiving less pay than similarly situated male colleagues, but that the pay differential is “historically or presently based on sex.” This holding departed from the decisions of other federal courts of appeals and prompted a request for en banc review by…

California Workplace Law Blog

The Changing Landscape of Sexual Harassment Claims and Mandatory Arbitration Agreements

By Hazel U. Poei & Jackson Lewis P.C. on November 26, 2018

The year 2018 has seen significant shifts in the landscape of gender equality and sexual harassment. Complaints of sexual harassment in California nearly doubled in the first three months of 2018. From January through March 2018, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing received 939 complaints of sexual harassment. This reflects an increase of 86% in comparison to the same period in 2017. Against this backdrop, some California companies have recently modified their sexual…

Healthcare Workplace Update

Developing Best Practices for Addressing Workplace Violence in the Homecare and Assisted Living Settings

By Jackson Lewis P.C. on November 21, 2018

In the wake of a recent uptick in workplace violence based lawsuits against home care and assisted living providers, lawmakers introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on November 16th that would require health care and social services providers to write and implement workplace violence prevention plans. If signed into law, H.R. 7141—the Workplace Violence Prevention in Health Care and Social Services Act—would compel OSHA to create and enforce workplace safety standards pertaining…

EPL Risk Mitigation Blog

EEOC Reports Increase in Sexual Harassment Claims

By Jackson Lewis P.C. on November 7, 2018

This past year has been filled with disturbing reports of alleged sexual assault and sexual harassment by prominent figures in business, politics, and even the judiciary. Not surprisingly, the number of EEOC sexual harassment filings has increased. In data published in October, the EEOC reported, that in 2018, it filed 50% more lawsuits regarding harassment than it did in 2017. Additionally, the EEOC reported that charges alleging sexual harassment increased in 2018 by 12% when…

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Snooze and Lose: Defendants Need to Raise Plaintiffs’ Failure to File Charge Early in Litigation

Sexual Harassment in Hospitals: Interns, Residents, Students, Attending Physicians: How to Navigate a Troublesome Problem Among a Diverse Workforce

U.S. Supreme Court: Employment Class Arbitration Must Be Expressly Addressed in Contract

Federal Paycheck Fairness Act Reintroduction in House and Senate

Independent Contractor Test the Subject of Two California Assembly Bills

U.S. Department of Labor’s Investigation of Arizona Hospital Highlights Need for Awareness of Workplace Lactation Accommodation Laws and Policies

Federal Circuit Urged to Reconsider Prima Facie Showing Required for Equal Pay Act Claim

The Changing Landscape of Sexual Harassment Claims and Mandatory Arbitration Agreements

Developing Best Practices for Addressing Workplace Violence in the Homecare and Assisted Living Settings

EEOC Reports Increase in Sexual Harassment Claims

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