General Acknowledgment of Receipt of Employer's Policies Sufficient to Compel Employee to Arbitrate

June 4, 2015 by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

In recent years, the courts and state legislatures across the country have been interpreting and enforcing laws regarding arbitration more strictly. What this means is that a lot of existing arbitration agreements no longer pass muster and must be revised in order to be compliant with the ever-changing laws. In this particular case, the employee's agreement to arbitrate employment disputes stood up, and it was because the employer had the right language in its policy documents. Read on. More ›

Employee Allowed to Pursue Claim Despite Failure to Follow Rules

June 4, 2015 by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

One of the first things a savvy employer or employer's attorney may do upon receipt of a claim, charge, or complaint, is look for deficiencies which may serve as a bar to suit.  More ›

Beware of Dog(ma): Did the Supreme Court just Require Employers to Accommodate Whenever a Request *Might* be due to Religion?

June 3, 2015 by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its long-awaited decision in the "Looks Policy" case. It's not terribly unexpected, but it is a little scary considering the potential far-reaching effects going forward.  More ›

EEOC Retains Subpoena Power even after Complainants' Private Lawsuit was Dismissed

May 20, 2015 by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Employers beware: in a shocking decision out of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, a court has allowed the EEOC to engage in a fishing expedition to gather more evidence against a company which had already successfully defeated the employees' claims in district court. More ›

Aching Joints: Franchisor Avoids Liability for Franchisee's Labor Disputes

May 19, 2015 by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Any time an employer is involved in a franchise relationship, there are bound to be unique issues when legal disputes arise, particularly in the employment context. It is no longer surprising to see the names of any and all related entities captioned as the defendant in an employment lawsuit, and this includes franchisors who may have absolutely no relationship with or control over the employer's employees. More ›

In a Win for Employees, Fourth Circuit Finds That Two Racial Slurs May Support Harassment Claim

May 16, 2015 by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently made two noteworthy rulings in a single case concerning sexual harassment and retaliation under Title VII. First, as it relates to sexual harassment, the Court found that two racial epithets – even if viewed as an isolated incident – may be sufficiently severe to support the existence of a hostile work environment. Second, the Court held that an employee possesses a reasonable belief of the existence of a hostile work environment – a prerequisite for a retaliation claim – if an isolated incident of harassment is physically threatening or humiliating, such as the two racial epithets at issue in this case. More ›

Connecticut Restricts Employer Access to Employees' and Applicants' Social Media

May 14, 2015 by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Connecticut has joined a growing number of other states in seeking to protect personal social media accounts of employees and potential hires. In early May, the state's General Assembly passed Senate Bill No. 426 (2015) titled "An Act Concerning Employee Online Privacy." More ›

Déjà vu all over Again: NLRB Rejects Employer's Handbook Policies

May 10, 2015 by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

You may have noticed that the NLRB has been coming down pretty hard on employment policies, practices and handbooks lately. They've added yet another decision to the arsenal this past month.  More ›

California Court Allows Employee to Disaffirm Arbitration Agreement due to Age

May 9, 2015 by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

We thought we'd heard everything! This is a new one, that's for sure. It's no secret that employees try to wiggle out of arbitration agreements all of the time. There are the usual digs: the agreement was buried in the middle of the documents, the font was too small, it didn't have the magic words, it requires the splitting of fees, etc. This case presents an entirely different type of argument, however. As demonstrated more fully below, in this case, the federal district court in California agreed with an employee that he was not bound by the arbitration agreement that he previously executed when he was a minor. More ›

Wisconsin Supreme Court: Continued Employment is Lawful Consideration for a Non-Compete

May 5, 2015 by Jane C. Schlicht

On April 30, 2015, the Wisconsin Supreme Court took a stand on a hot-button for employers by holding that continued at-will employment is legal consideration that will support a reasonably drafted restrictive covenant signed by a current employee. Runzheimer International, Inc. v. Friedlen, 2015 WI 45. More ›

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