Reductions-in-Force and Business Restructuring

By Louisa Johnson and Salomon Laguerre

Synopsis:  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that an employer had done nothing wrong when it (i) filled the plaintiff’s position during his leave, (ii) restored the plaintiff to a different, but equivalent, position upon his return, and (iii) separated the plaintiff six weeks later as part of a reduction in force.
Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Decision Reiterates That Filling Employee’s Position During Leave And Re-Assigning Employee To A Different But Equivalent Position After Leave Is Okay Under The FMLA

By Condon McGlothlen

On May 27, 2015, New York’s State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) issued proposed rules regarding payment of wages by payroll debit cards (sometimes called “pay cards”).  The proposed regulations contain good news and bad news for employers.  The good news is that they appear to let employers pay either by direct deposit or, alternatively, by pay card;
Continue Reading New York Poised To Allow Pay Cards But To Continue Scrutinizing Them

By Johanna T. Wise and Andrew J. Masak

Every day new stories about the uses (and misuses) of drones surface in the media.

They have been used to: photograph the 2015 Winter X Games, assist in firefighting operations, monitor agricultural drought, monitor pipelines in remote areas of the world, and take pictures for realtors.  One drone even famously crashed on
Continue Reading Send in the Drones: Transforming the Workplace through the Use of Drone Surveillance

By Sara Eber Fowler and Johanna T. Wise

Last week, an en banc panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals took a fresh look at whether Ford Motor Company’s decision to deny an employee’s request to telecommute four days a week violated the ADA. Reversing its prior ruling from last year (previously reported here), the 8-5 panel in
Continue Reading So Is Telecommuting A Reasonable Accommodation? Not So Fast Says The Sixth Circuit, Reversing Course.

By Jeffrey Ross & Condon McGlothlen

We’ve raised concerns for a long time that there are a lot of employment separation agreements floating around that do not necessarily reflect best practices.  So the EEOC’s recent lawsuit challenging CVS’s separation agreement is not all that surprising.

The EEOC complaint alleges that the CVS form “constitutes resistance to the full enjoyment of
Continue Reading The EEOC Wake-Up Call On Employment Separation Agreements