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By: Ada W. Dolph and Howard M. Wexler

New Jersey’s whistleblower statute, the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”), N.J.S.A. 34:19-1, is frequently referred to as one of the most expansive whistleblower statutes in the country.  Currently before the New Jersey Supreme Court is the case of Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc., No. A-65/66-13 (cert. granted Mar. 14, 2014), which will have…
Continue Reading Interest Groups Weigh In On Significant New Jersey Supreme Court Case Involving the Scope of CEPA Whistleblower Claims

By: Kevin A. Fritz

The Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) allows employees to take leave from work to care for a family member with a serious health condition.  Last week, the Department of Labor proposed to amend Regulations that implement the FMLA—which would allow an employee to take FMLA leave to care for a same-sex spouse, regardless of whether…
Continue Reading Department Of Labor Gets “Celebratory” With New Proposed FMLA Regulations

By Christopher Robertson and Paul E. Freehling

The U.S. district courts are currently split on the question of whether the anti-retaliation provisions of the federal Dodd-Frank Act (“DFA”) apply to employees who disclose their employer’s alleged securities violations to company officials but do not report the claimed violations to the SEC.  Just in May 2014, for example, federal courts in…
Continue Reading Federal Courts Divided On The Definition Of “Whistleblower” As That Word Is Used In The Dodd-Frank Act

By: Caitlin Ladd

Employer-provided payroll cards programs remain a topic of discussion in the news and are now the subject of proposed legislation backed by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

On June 13, Scheinderman’s office published a report entitled “Pinched by Plastic:  The Impact of Payroll Cards on Law-Wage Workers”.  This report synthesized the results of the…
Continue Reading NY AG Backs Restrictions on Payroll Cards

By Dawn Solowey, Kristin McGurn and Beth Foley

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and two of its transit police officers secured an important summary judgment win this week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in the case of Delaney v. MBTA et al., represented by Seyfarth’s Whistleblower Team.

The Claims

Lisa Delaney, formerly…
Continue Reading MBTA Secures Victory in Massachusetts Whistleblower Case, Represented by Seyfarth Whistleblower Team

By: Olushola Ayanbule

Employers may risk peril if they ignore third-party harassment claims.  In Freeman v. Dal-Tile Corp., No 13-1481, 2014 WL 1678422 (4th Cir. April 29, 2014), the Fourth Circuit recently ruled that a negligence standard applies to third-party harassment claims under Title VII.  In other words, just as with co-worker harassment, an employer may be liable…
Continue Reading See No Harassment, Hear No Harassment? Not Anymore: The Fourth Circuit Holds Employer Liable for Third-Party Harassment.

By Tracy M. Billows and Craig B. Simonsen

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to invite the public to comment on how it should amend its regulations implementing Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to clarify the federal government’s obligation to be a model employer of individuals with disabilities.
Continue Reading Impact of “Federal Sector’s Obligation To Be a Model Employer of Individuals With Disabilities”

By: Paul Kehoe and Pamela Q. Devata

On May 15, 2014, Baltimore joined the growing number of jurisdictions to ban the box on employment applications.  Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake signed Baltimore’s Fair Criminal-Record Screening Practices ordinance, which bans private employers from inquiring about or conducting a criminal background check on an applicant until after an employer has essentially completed the…
Continue Reading Imprisonment For Asking About Criminal Convictions Too Early? Baltimore Bans the Box.

By: Tracy M. Billows and Sara A. Eber

As it turns out, having a comprehensive policy for addressing requests for accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is only half the battle.  As the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently made clear, companies trying to comply with the ADA by creating a general framework for addressing accommodation requests may…
Continue Reading No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Evaluating The EEOC’s Recent Critiques On Sample Disability Accommodation Guidelines