Robert Bernstein

Firm/Organization: Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Latest Articles

Employer’s Honest Belief Sufficient to Defeat FMLA Retaliation Claim

By Robert Bernstein, Mark D. Lurie & Noel A. Lesica

February 14, 2017

In a welcome decision to employers, the Third Circuit decided last week, for the first time, that an employer’s mere “honest belief” that an employee misused FMLA leave is sufficient to defeat a retaliation claim. As an employee claiming retaliation for using protected FMLA leave must prove that the very exercise of that right was a determinative factor in the employer’s decision to take adverse action against her, in other words that there was retaliatory intent,…

GT L&E Blog

Court Stays DOL Overtime Rule, Holds Increased Salary Test Impermissibly ‘Supplants’ Duties Tests

By Robert Bernstein, John R. Richards & Michael J. Slocum

November 23, 2016

The proposed overtime rules will not go into effect on Dec. 1. In a closely-watched case brought by 21 states (and joined by numerous business organizations) challenging the Department of Labor’s (DOL) rule amendment which would have roughly doubled the minimum salary threshold for many employees to be considered exempt from federal overtime requirements (set to take effect Dec. 1, 2016), a Texas federal court, on the evening of Nov. 22, issued a nationwide order…

GT L&E Blog

Third Circuit Espouses Fact-Sensitive Inquiries in Considering Joint Employer Liability and Compensation for Meal Periods: What Employers Can Do to Brighten the Lines

By Robert Bernstein & Michael J. Slocum

December 8, 2015

In a pair of published opinions, raising novel employment issues in this Circuit, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the test for determining whether a “temporary” worker is an “employee” eligible to assert Title VII claims against the company which contracts their services, and the test for determining whether time spent on meal breaks is compensable under the FLSA. In each case, the Third Circuit adopted fact-sensitive and multi-factor inquiries, rather than articulating bright…

GT L&E Blog

Sixth Circuit Rejects Telecommuting Demand from Employee

By Robert Bernstein & Michael J. Slocum

April 20, 2015

In an important “win” for employers that has potentially widespread implications, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, reinstated summary judgment dismissing claims asserted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that Ford Motor Company failed to accommodate a former employee’s request under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to telecommute up to four days per week. The Court reaffirmed the “general rule that, with few exceptions, ‘an employee who does not come…

GT L&E Blog

New York City Extends Human Rights Law to Pregnant Women with ‘Pregnant Workers Fairness Act’

By Robert Bernstein & Jerrold Goldberg

October 14, 2013

With Zachary N. Klein and Michael J. Slocum. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, scheduled to go into effect on January 29, 2014, requires employers in New York City to provide their pregnant employees with “reasonable accommodations” for their pregnancies or related medical conditions. Employers in the City of New York should prepare by considering pregnancy‐related conditions that may be covered under the new law, reviewing their current policies in light of these legal developments,…

GT L&E Blog

In a Pro-Employee World, U. S. Supreme Court Rulings Offer Employers Hope

By Robert Bernstein

July 2, 2013

With Michael Slocum and Colleen Giusto In a pair of important opinions released last week, both of which are helpful to employers, the U.S. Supreme Court raised the bar for employees asserting claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e. In University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, 570 U.S. _, No. 12-484 (2013), the Court ruled that an employee claiming retaliation must do more than show that retaliatory…

GT L&E Blog

New York Minimum Wage Heads North

By Robert Bernstein

April 5, 2013

New York State’s minimum wage will gradually increase from the current rate of $7.25 per hour to $9.00 per hour over the next few years. The wage increases go into effect as follows: $8.00 on or after December 31, 2013; $8.75 on or after December 31, 2014; and $9.00 on or after December 31, 2015.…

GT L&E Blog

New Jersey Federal Court Cautions Employers When Responding to Even Routine Demand Letters

By Robert Bernstein

March 4, 2013

with Michael Slocum Though it has long been a common practice for in-house counsel to respond to routine (and not so routine) demand letters, a recent New Jersey District Court decision should cause in-house counsel serious concern when doing so in the future. In Bourhill v. Sprint Nextel Corp., the Court allowed into evidence a portion of a letter written by an in-house attorney, prior to the action’s commencement, explaining why counsel’s position was factually…

GT L&E Blog

After Nearly 25 Years, New Jersey Appellate Court Provides ‘Sobering’ Guidance to Employers Respecting Workplace Alcoholism

By Robert Bernstein

November 28, 2012

On October 26, New Jersey’s Appellate Division held in A.D.P. v. ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co. that a private-sector, non-union employer’s blanket policy requiring any employee returning from an alcohol rehabilitation program to submit to random alcohol testing, applicable only to those identified as being “alcoholic” and divorced from any individualized assessment of the employee’s performance, was facially discriminatory under the Law Against Discrimination (LAD) — a conclusion that would likely be the same under…

Robert Bernstein

Employer’s Honest Belief Sufficient to Defeat FMLA Retaliation Claim

Court Stays DOL Overtime Rule, Holds Increased Salary Test Impermissibly ‘Supplants’ Duties Tests

Third Circuit Espouses Fact-Sensitive Inquiries in Considering Joint Employer Liability and Compensation for Meal Periods: What Employers Can Do to Brighten the Lines

Sixth Circuit Rejects Telecommuting Demand from Employee

New York City Extends Human Rights Law to Pregnant Women with ‘Pregnant Workers Fairness Act’

In a Pro-Employee World, U. S. Supreme Court Rulings Offer Employers Hope

New York Minimum Wage Heads North

New Jersey Federal Court Cautions Employers When Responding to Even Routine Demand Letters

After Nearly 25 Years, New Jersey Appellate Court Provides ‘Sobering’ Guidance to Employers Respecting Workplace Alcoholism

Stay Connected

Company

Support

New to the Network