If you’re not sure what the interactive process is supposed to look like under the ADA, peruse the facts of the 8th Circuit’s decision in Minnihan v. Mediacom. I’m also going to summarize the facts below, but if you want to read the legal analysis too go ahead and read the full decision. Minnihan worked [...]
At least not before checking with your attorney. An interesting case from the Northern District of Iowa was recently brought to my attention. Although no final disposition of the case occurred due to parties resolving the matter out of court, the facts and issues are important enough to bring to the forefront. The facts are [...]
Over the holiday, the Court of Appeals issued a couple of employment-related decisions regarding situations that often come up. Non-Compete Agreements/Competition with Former Employer In Curry’s Transportation Services, Inc. v. Dotson et al., the Court of Appeals addressed the enforceability of a non-compete and competition with a former employee. Since I want to address two [...]
In the wake of domestic violence charges against NFL players and the public’s outrage at the NFL’s response as a business owner you may be thinking how you might respond when faced with an employee charged with domestic violence or an employee who is a victim of domestic violence. Or maybe you believe domestic violence [...]
On July 1, 2014, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Young v. UPS, Inc. to decide “whether and in what circumstances, an employer that provides work accommodations to nonpregnant employees with work limitations must provide work accommodations to pregnant employees who are ‘similar in their ability or inability to work.’” Young was a [...]
Inflexible leave policies—that is policies which provide a specified time off for personal reasons, including medical reasons—have been declared unlawful by the EEOC. The EEOC’s position is that inflexible leave policies do not provide the individualized consideration necessary to determine whether leave longer than the specified time is a reasonable accommodation. Accordingly, many companies have [...]
The 6th Circuit’s telecommuting decision in EEOC v. Ford Motor Co. has been creating a buzz in the employment law community. Since the concept of telecommuting as a reasonable accommodation is not necessarily innovative, the buzz must be coming from the way in which the court appeared to bend over backwards to declare that telecommuting [...]
{Before skipping this post because you don’t have a union, remember that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) applies to employers without unions too. You can read about the application of the NLRA to non-union employers here.} War might be an extreme description, but the NLRB has been issuing decisions that declare run-of-the-mill employee policies [...]
An employee just made a complaint of harassment or discrimination. You know you have a duty, as the employer, to investigate the employee’s complaint, but aren’t entirely sure how to conduct the investigation. Here are a few tips: 1. Understand the complaint. Take time to listen to the employee’s complaint. Understand what the employee is [...]
The State finds itself involved in another lawsuit with a disgruntled former employee. This time the plaintiff is former DCI Agent Larry Hedlund. Hedlund sued the Department of Public Safety for wrongful termination alleging that he was terminated after complaining about an Iowa State Patrol trooper driving 84 mph while driving Governor Branstad in April. [...]
