Labor & Employment Law Update

An employer can generally avoid liability in an age discrimination lawsuit if it can articulate a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for its actions. Examples of legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for terminations are poor performance, misconduct and insubordination. Articulating a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason is an effective way to win summary judgment in a […]

Iowa: A Waterloo hospital is fi nalizing a $2 million settlement agreement for a race discrimination class action lawsuit. The class action complaint was fi led on behalf of African American persons who applied for employment with the hospital but were not hired, who were passed over for promotional opportunities, […]

The Eighth Circuit recently held that an employer interfered with a sick employee’s job protection rights under the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) by failing to reinstate her to a position that she never actually performed. However, in the same decision, the court vacated a ten-year front pay award of […]

A Pennsylvania federal court has held that deafness in one ear is not a disability under the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA). In Mengel v. Reading Eagle Co. (E.D. Penn.), Christine Mengel, a copy editor and page designer at the Reading Eagle newspaper, filed a complaint alleging she was discriminated against […]

The National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) has always been somewhat political. At full complement, the Board consists of fi ve members, nominated by the President and appointed to the Board with the “advice and consent” of the Senate. When the Board is interpreting the National Labor Relations Act (the […]