John P. Rodgers

John Rodgers represents public and private employers in employment-related litigation and assists them with employment policies, employee handbooks, workplace investigations, disciplinary actions, and terminations. He actively litigates employment disputes on behalf of employers and has handled discrimination and retaliation, wage and hour, FMLA, and non-compete cases in both state and federal court. He also devotes substantial attention to ERISA litigation and representing individuals and businesses in conservatorship matters. View articles by John

Firm/Organization: Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Blogs: Labor & Employment Insights

Latest Articles

Labor & Employment Insights

Stick to Your Story: Employer’s Shifting Termination Justifications Can Cause Employer to Have to Explain Its Discharge Decision to a Jury

By John P. Rodgers & Anne R. Yuengert

September 10, 2019

If you want to avoid potential liability from a former employee, remember a key maxim: Stick to your story about why you made the employment decision. If an employer shifts rationales for its decision or tries to pile on by adding new reasons after the fact, it will likely have to explain itself to a jury or pay to settle the case. A recent decision from a federal court in Tennessee, Rikita Bonner-Gibson v. Genesis …

Labor & Employment Insights

Once Is Enough: Tennessee Federal Court Rules Single Use of ‘N-Word’ By Co-Worker Sufficient to Get Hostile Work Environment Claim to Jury

By John P. Rodgers

March 5, 2019

Usually, once is not enough, at least in the hostile work environment context. Unless, as the court found in Ronnie L. Outlaw v. SBH Services, Inc., it is. Typically, a single incident of harassment – especially by a co-worker – is not sufficient for a hostile work environment claim to survive summary judgment and be heard by a jury. Most of the time, a viable hostile environment claim involves a series of harassing incidents…

Labor & Employment Insights

Tender Me This: Sixth Circuit Holds Employees Don’t Have to Give Severance Money Back before Filing Title VII or EPA Lawsuit

By John P. Rodgers

August 21, 2018

In a decision that could have employers rethinking how they offer employees a severance agreement, in McClellan v. Midwest Machining, Inc. the Sixth Circuit held that former employees seeking to void severance agreements do not have to give the severance pay back before filing suit under Title VII or the Equal Pay Act. Factual Summary The facts of this case help give this legal holding some flavor. In late August 2015, Jena McClellan informed her…

Labor & Employment Insights

Voluntarily Sharing Family’s Cancer History Bars GINA Claims, Court Holds

By John P. Rodgers

May 31, 2018

GINA—that elusive law about employers collecting genetic information that rarely comes up. What if an employee voluntarily shares his genetic history—can he turn around and claim his employer improperly acquired the genetic information? Fortunately, in Williams v. Graphic Packaging International, Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, provides some guidance and says no. GINA Refresher The Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating…

Labor & Employment Insights

Sixth Circuit to Employers: No ‘Magic Words’ Make a Sex Discrimination Complaint Title VII Protected Activity

By John P. Rodgers

March 8, 2018

Employers beware: An employee does not have to use “magic words” to complain about discrimination for it to lay the basis for a retaliation claim. The Sixth Circuit made this point in a unanimous opinion in the case of Mumm v. Charter Township of Superior. Facts Susan Mumm complained to her employer, the Township, about being disciplined for performance-related reasons (she was an accountant, among other duties). After the Township addressed her complaint, Mumm’s…

Labor & Employment Insights

Employee Quits and Then Slips: Covered Under Workers’ Comp or Not?

By John P. Rodgers

December 14, 2017

Is an employee who quits her job then injures herself before she gets out the door still covered by workers’ comp? In a recent Tennessee case of first impression, the court ruled that after an employee says “I quit,” the employee remains employed for a “reasonable period of time” to “effectuate the termination of her employment.” Injuries occurring within that reasonable length of time are covered under workers’ comp. The Facts Melissa Duck worked as…

Labor & Employment Insights

Refer This: Referral Sources Can Be a Legitimate Business Interest for Non-Compete Purposes in Florida

By John P. Rodgers

September 21, 2017

Can relationships with referral sources give rise to a legitimate business interest sufficient to enforce a non-compete? The answer is yes, at least in Florida. A Little Helpful Background Generally speaking, non-compete agreements (that prevent a former employee from working for your competitor) are not enforceable unless they protect an employer’s “legitimate business interest.” Non-competes that merely serve to prevent ordinary competition are generally not enforceable because they are simply a restraint on trade. Rather,…

Labor & Employment Insights

Avoiding Diversion: New Tennessee Law Imposes Potential Obligations on Employers When Healthcare Providers Fail Drug Tests

By John P. Rodgers

June 29, 2017

Tennessee lawmakers are cracking down on nurses and other healthcare providers (HCPs) diverting medications for personal use. A law going into effect on July 1, 2017, (yes—next week) puts an obligation on employers of HCPs and substance abuse treatment programs to report failed drug tests under certain circumstances to the state so drug-diverting HCPs have their licenses suspended. According to a Tennessee legislative hearing, there have been several instances of employers terminating nurses who…

Labor & Employment Insights

6 of One, Half a Dozen of the Other: 10th Circuit Rules Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Work Environment Harassment Theories Aren’t So Different After All

By John P. Rodgers

May 23, 2017

Quid pro quo and hostile environment sex harassment claims—two totally different claims—right? Or are they? While employers draw strict distinctions between these types of sex harassment, courts may not go along, as demonstrated in a recent 10th Circuit case, Jones v. Needham Trucking LLC et al. Types of Sex Harassment Claims. Traditionally, two Title VII sexual harassment claims exist: quid pro quo and hostile work environment. The two sex harassment theories have different meanings,…

Labor & Employment Insights

C’est La Vie: No ‘Right to Disconnect’ in U.S., But Non-Exempt Workers Must Be Paid for ‘Connected’ Time

By John P. Rodgers

January 17, 2017

Could a “right to disconnect” become law in the U.S.? France is trying it. Effective January 1, a new French law went into effect giving workers a “right to disconnect” when not at work. French employers with 50 or more employees have to adopt written policies restricting the hours that workers can send or receive emails, text messages, or any other digital, work-related communication. The new law is meant to allow workers to escape from…

John P. Rodgers

Stick to Your Story: Employer’s Shifting Termination Justifications Can Cause Employer to Have to Explain Its Discharge Decision to a Jury

Once Is Enough: Tennessee Federal Court Rules Single Use of ‘N-Word’ By Co-Worker Sufficient to Get Hostile Work Environment Claim to Jury

Tender Me This: Sixth Circuit Holds Employees Don’t Have to Give Severance Money Back before Filing Title VII or EPA Lawsuit

Voluntarily Sharing Family’s Cancer History Bars GINA Claims, Court Holds

Sixth Circuit to Employers: No ‘Magic Words’ Make a Sex Discrimination Complaint Title VII Protected Activity

Employee Quits and Then Slips: Covered Under Workers’ Comp or Not?

Refer This: Referral Sources Can Be a Legitimate Business Interest for Non-Compete Purposes in Florida

Avoiding Diversion: New Tennessee Law Imposes Potential Obligations on Employers When Healthcare Providers Fail Drug Tests

6 of One, Half a Dozen of the Other: 10th Circuit Rules Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Work Environment Harassment Theories Aren’t So Different After All

C’est La Vie: No ‘Right to Disconnect’ in U.S., But Non-Exempt Workers Must Be Paid for ‘Connected’ Time

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