Employment practices liability insurance policies, commonly referred to as EPLI, provide protection against large jury verdicts rendered in cases involving employment discrimination, harassment and other employment law violations. These policies also typically call for insurers to pay the costs of defense counsel in excess of the employer’s retention.
While these policies may indeed provide significant
To the surprise of few, Judge Kimberly Mueller has enjoined California from beginning enforcement of its law (Assembly Bill 51) prohibiting employers from requiring employees to waive their right to jury trials in favor of arbitration. In her three page order. Judge Mueller noted that the plaintiffs (which included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
Although some departing employees are willing to risk violating their non-competes when they leave a company, a recent court decision reinforced one of the significant dangers that those employees can face in doing so. In this decision, a federal appeals court in Ohio ruled that a former employee who violates a non-compete can be forced
One of the strongest trends in human resource management is the dramatic increase in the use of mandatory employment arbitration agreements. In late 2017, a study by the Survey Research Institute at Cornell University determined that the number of private sector, non-union employees subject to mandatory arbitration agreements had dramatically increased in recent years. The
A federal court of appeals recently ruled that, standing alone, full-time presence at the workplace is not an essential function of a job. In the case, an HR Generalist returned to work part-time while suffering from postpartum depression and separation anxiety. Initially, the employer accommodated the employee by allowing her to work five half-days per
With the position of its director finally filled (by Arthur F. Rosenfeld), the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS) is able to turn its attention to reviewing its rules and interpretations. While the main focus of attention at OLMS during the years of the Obama Administration was the “Persuader Rule” that
In a memorandum issued last week, NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb offered important guidance on how his office plans to prosecute claims of unlawful workplace rules in the wake of the Board’s restorative Boeing decision (365 NLRB No. 154 (Dec. 14, 2017)). As we discussed here last December, the Boeing decision created a sensible standard
On March 7, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit determined in a landmark ruling that federal law protects transgender individuals from employment discrimination. The Sixth Circuit also determined that private employers cannot use their religious beliefs to justify discrimination against transgender individuals.
The Sixth Circuit’s decision case in the case
On November 21, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Agency (“FINRA”) fined J.P. Morgan Securities, LLC, $1.25 million for HR due diligence failures from 2009 until May of this year. Pursuant to federal securities laws, broker-dealers must fingerprint certain non-registered associated persons to help determine if any of them have been convicted of a disqualifying criminal
In recent weeks, reports of sexual harassment allegations against high-profile individuals have emerged on an almost daily basis. From Hollywood A-listers, to politicians, to celebrity chefs, the list of powerful individuals accused of sexual harassment and assault continues to grow. As a result, the national conversation surrounding the topic of sexual harassment in the workplace