WSNYC Blog: The Latest in Employment Law

Last year, a teacher at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida was removed from her position after hanging a Black Lives Matter (BLM) flag outside her classroom. Lee was a segregated, whites only school until 1971. Since then, important work has been done at the school and within the community to combat the deep-seeded racism that is part of the school’s history. A recent NPR article provides one example: “. . . a student group called the EVAC Movement,

Last month, a jury sided with former IBM manager Scott Kingston, ruling that the technology company owes him $11 million in economic and non-economic damages. The jury’s verdict says that Kingston is owed $6 million in damages for emotional harm and $5.1 million in past and future economic loss and unpaid commission. 

Kingston claims he was fired out of retaliation after he reported an instance of racial discrimination against a subordinate, Jerome Beard. According to a Law360 article, “Kingston said that

Basecamp, a productivity software-making company, is currently under heat for implementing a controversial ban on societal and political discussions in the workplace. In a September blog post on the company’s website, chief executive Jason Fried listed several internal changes the company is making. He wrote, “every discussion remotely related to politics, advocacy or society at large quickly spins away from pleasant.” Referring to the current political and social climate, Fried emphasized that these discussions are “difficult to navigate” and are

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought up many questions regarding workplace safety and the rights of employees and employers alike. Our firm has previously blogged on issues such as whether your employer can force you not to wear a mask and whether employers can require vaccinations. Today, we aim to tackle questions such as “Can my employer ask why I am choosing not to get vaccinated?” and “As an employer, can I provide my employees with the vaccine?” 

Can My Employer Ask

Since 1953, women in South Korea have been permitted to take one day off a month due to painful menstruation. Between 2014 and 2015, Former CEO of Asiana Airlines, Kim Soo-cheon, received over 138 employee requests for a day off due to painful menstruation. The former CEO said that he began to get suspicious when large amounts of employees attempted to take off for painful menstruation near the holidays. Kim Soo-cheon asked the women to provide proof of painful menstruation.

McDonald’s is currently facing multiple class action lawsuits for allegations of sexual harassment and systemic racial discrimination. In a news segment covered by VICE News, multiple employees and black franchise owners came forward to discuss the issues within the company. This is one of the many lawsuits the global food service retailer has faced in the past. In fact, the sexual harrasment suit is one of 50 charges that has been filed against the corporation since 2015. The video segment

Throughout the pandemic, there has been a good deal of debate surrounding the legality of enforcing mask mandates in the workplace and whether or not employers can mandate vaccinations. The most recent issue that has arisen as the end of the pandemic comes into sight is regarding whether employers can force employees not to wear masks in the workplace. The answer might be more complicated than you think. 

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, if you wish to wear

         A Subway in Bloomington, Ind. discriminated against a qualified applicant due to the applicant’s hearing impairment. The applicant was not hired for the sandwich-making position, because of a “communication concern” based on the applicant’s “hearing and speaking” ability. The applicant sued Ranrae, Inc, the corporation that is in charge of the Subway restaurant franchise in Bloomington, Indianna. Ranrae, Inc settled the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuit for $28,700 on March 26, 2021. The EEOC Regional Attorney Kenneth L.

This past month, the nation has been rocked by repeated incidents of gun violence across the country. Earlier in March, eight people, most of Asian descent, were killed by a gunman in Atlanta, Georgia at multiple massage parlors across the city. About a week later, a shooter killed ten people at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado. Last Thursday, a mass shooting occurred at a Fedex facility in Indianapolis, Indiana that resulted in the death of nine people. This Sunday, a

In 2017, a class action lawsuit was filed against the popular fast food business, Chipotle, for misclassifying its workers as salaried employees who were exempt  from overtime pay. Carmen Alvarez, an employee at the time, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey on behalf of herself and other Chipotle workers in similar situations. The suit, consisting of over 4,800 workers, was finally settled for $15 million after Chipotle agreed to resolve and put an end to