My friend Joel Schroeder at Faegre & Benson has written a terrific article on using social media in litigation, as well as some ideas for discovering it in the first place. It has lots of good lessons for both litigators and their clients.
How Not To Use Technology to Announce a RIF
British employer Everything Everywhere has provided employers on both sides of the Atlantic with a great public service: how not to announce a reduction-in-force. It seems the mobile phone company, which was created by the merger of Orange and T-Mobile, had to advise its 16,000 employees whether or not their jobs were safe following [...]
Sick Leave Conundrum
Interesting article from MSNBC about the pressures that employees face when their employers ask them to return to work from Family and Medical Leave before they are ready: “Many workers . . . have faced this conundrum [of being pressured to return to work early from leave], and it’s only gotten worse during this economic [...]
Dealing with alcoholic employees
One issue that makes employers very nervous is dealing with employees who have problems with alcohol. A new decision by a federal district court judge in St. Paul will help to clarify an employer’s obligations. The plaintiff in the case, Buzzard v. Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Company, has a long history of chronic [...]
The BlackBerry as FLSA Risk
One more thing for employers to worry about. According to National Public Radio, a police sergeant in Chicago is suing the city for overtime back pay because he regularly used his BlackBerry to continue working even though his shift was over. According to his attorney: “What we are saying is he’s using this mobile device [...]
New Focus on Wage and Hour Claims in Health Care
Health Care appears to be the latest industry targeted for wage-and-hour enforcement by the federal government and private parties. The New York Times reports that hospitals around the country have paid millions of dollars in back wages to settle claims by the government and employees. And many more hospitals are fighting class-action lawsuits that [...]
Medical Marijuana in the Workplace
Minnesota has not passed a medical marijuana law, but 14 states and the District of Columbia have, and occasionally such laws have employment law implications. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit two weeks ago against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and the manager of its Battle Creek, Michigan store for wrongfully firing an [...]
Managing employees with disabilities
Employers often struggle, and rightly so, with deciding how best to treat employees who have some physical or mental impairment, especially if the impairment seems to be affecting their work performance. It is often very hard to balance the demands of expected workplace performance with an employee’s rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act [...]
Broader FMLA rights for same-sex couples and others
On June 22, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a new interpretation of the definition of “son or daughter” under the Family and Medical Leave Act which will expand the number of employees who are eligible for leave, especially those in a same sex relationship. As background, the FMLA entitles an eligible employee [...]
Accommodating Employees’ Religious Beliefs
A decision earlier this week by a Federal District Court Judge here in Minneapolis offers some very useful guidance on accommodating requests for religious accommodations by employees. Celestica Corporation operates a manufacturing plant in Arden Hills. Adecco USA provides temporary employees to Celestica. The plaintiffs are practicing Muslims who allege that Celestica discriminated against [...]
