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Employment Law

Jury’s discrimination award is subject to withholding

08/29/2013
A federal appeals court has ruled that a former employee’s Title VII jury award was taxable back pay and front pay. The employer, therefore, didn’t need to seek the trial court’s approval to withhold taxes, even though the award didn’t explicitly allow the employer to withhold.

When competition might come from within, keep employees honest

08/28/2013
It’s a situation that happens more often than you might think: An em­ployer finds out that one of its em­ployees is preparing to leave and set up her own shop. But is the employer handcuffed, un­able to do anything about the up­start competitor because this employee didn’t sign a noncompe­tition agreement?

YUM! Brands faces yucky wage-and-hour lawsuit

08/28/2013
The parent corporation for such fast food icons as Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut faces a class-action lawsuit alleging numerous wage-and-hour violations in California.

Nags Head hotel settles suit over religious accommodation

08/28/2013
A hotel company that owns a Com­­fort Inn in Nags Head on the Outer Banks has agreed to settle a religious discrimination case after it stopped accommodating an employee’s religious needs.

Court: Shift change won’t support age bias claim

08/28/2013
Employees who want to sue for age discrimination have to show that an adverse employment action—such as discharge, demotion, a pay cut or other substantial benefit loss—was connected to their age. Merely being moved to another shift doesn’t qualify.

Ministerial exception protects churches from bias lawsuits

08/28/2013

While most employers have to follow federal and state anti-discrimination laws, there is a limited exception for religious organizations. Under the ministerial exception, an employee hired to preach the organization’s religious beliefs can’t sue for discrimination.

Good news for supervisors, HR pros: No personal liability under Title VII

08/28/2013
While some federal and state laws allow employees to personally sue their super­visors or an HR professional, that’s not the case for Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Only employers can be liable for discrimination covered by that section.

Is that manager really exempt? Much depends on how she spends most days

08/28/2013
The best approach to classification is to regularly review exactly what employees actually do, day in and day out. Then measure that by what the FLSA regulations say indicates exempt status.

In Winston-Salem case, ‘non-Asian’ isn’t protected

08/28/2013
A DOL judge has shot down a discrimination complaint against Winston-Salem-based VF Jeanswear Limited Partnership, claiming it discriminated against “non-Asians” in its hiring practices in violation of Executive Order 11246, which forbids racial discrimination in hiring for government contractors.

Employee represents herself? Be patient

08/28/2013
The best approach when faced with an employee who files her own lawsuit without a lawyer’s help is to exercise patience. In almost all cases, a judge will toss out the case as soon as he or she is convinced there’s nothing there.