Allyn & Fortuna LLPNicholas Fortuna, June 17, 2015. The Supreme Court will take another stab at defining the limits of class actions in the employment setting. On June 8, 2015 the Court granted review certification of a class of more than 3000 Iowa meat-processing employees on their wage and hour claims that resulted in a jury award of nearly $5.8 million in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo. The justices will consider the Eighth Circuit’s 2-1 decision that the district court did not abuse its discretion by certifying the workers’ collective and…
Paula Lopez, June 5, 2015. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the case EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., reversing the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision holding that Abercrombie could not be held liable on a religious discrimination claim for failure to accommodate. In an 8-1 decision reversing a decision of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear that Title VII requires employers to make efforts to accommodate an applicant or employee’s “religious observance and practice”…
By: Megan J. Muoio, May 4, 2015 On Wednesday, April 29, 2015, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Mach Mining LLC v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was argued before the Court in January 2015. The unanimous decision, written by Justice Kagan, was a win for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in its efforts to bring litigation after engaging in conciliation with employers and permitted federal courts a narrow review of the conciliation process. A woman filed a charge of discrimination in violation of Title VII…
By: Megan J. Muoio, April 7 2015 On March 25, 2015, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., a case challenging the interpretation and applicability of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) and that has drawn national attention. Young was a part-time driver for UPS, which requires that its drivers lift up to 70 pounds. After Young became pregnant, her doctor advised her not to lift more than 20 pounds. UPS told Young that she could not work under a lifting restriction. However,…
By Diana Uhimov, March 18, 2015. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard argument in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought suit against Abercrombie over its refusal to hire a Muslim teen, Samantha Elauf. Although she scored highly in her interview for a sales associate position with the retailer, she was not hired because she wore a black hijab—a Muslim headscarf she has worn since the age of 13. When the interviewer consulted with a manager about the headscarf, she gave Elauf a low score in…
Paula Lopez, January 22, 2015. On Friday, January 16, 2015, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in four consolidated cases[i], challenging the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision upholding same-sex marriage bans in Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. The Supreme Court’s decision to finally take up the issue of gay marriage was foreseen by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who told a Minnesota audience in September 2014 that if the Sixth Circuit’s forthcoming decision created a split among the circuits by deviating from other decisions striking down…
Diana Uhimov, January 14, 2015. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review of the Sixth Circuit’s holding in Kalamazoo County Road Commission v. Deleon, permitting employees to bring an action for workplace discrimination after being given a position that the employee had actually pursued. The suit was brought by Robert Deleon, a 53-year-old Mexican-American man who had worked for the Kalamazoo County Road Commission for 25 years. Deleon applied for a vacant position that involved working in an office located in a garage with diesel fumes, but the job…
By: Megan J. Muoio, December 31, 2014 There have been a number of notable employment law developments in 2014, and employment issues for employers will continue to be dynamic into 2015. The Equal Opportunity Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has initiated significant litigation and issued substantial regulations, while the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has pushed the envelope regarding employees’ rights issues. The Supreme Court has also been especially active in the employment law area, handing down decisions relevant to the religious rights of employers and considering issues regarding…
By: Megan J. Muoio, December 4, 2014 On December 1, 2014, the Supreme Court heard oral argument Elonis v. United States, a case involving whether a man who made threats on Facebook should be prosecuted for making allegedly “true threats” or whether his words should be protected under the First Amendment. In 2010, Anthony Elonis made several Facebook posts in which he expressed violent sentiments against his wife, who had recently left him. Elonis also reinterpreted rap lyrics to incorporate threats against his wife and posted them to…
Paula Lopez, October 16, 2014. Last week, in the case Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument on whether warehouse workers are entitled to overtime pay for time spent waiting to pass through employer mandated security checks after they had already clocked out for the day. The plaintiffs were former warehouse workers in Nevada employed by Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. a company that provides warehouse space and staffing to Amazon.com and similar clients. The plaintiffs worked in two warehouses in Nevada as hourly employees…