Last week, a Texas federal judge handed the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) a victory by refusing to grant an injunction that sought to delay the implementation of the Agency’s rule regarding workplace injuries and illnesses. The new rule, entitled “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illness,” requires most employers to submit
Title VII sexual orientation claims are gaining traction with more courts
On November 4, 2016, a federal judge in Pennsylvania became the latest jurist to side with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in endorsing the viability of claims based on sexual orientation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In U.S. EEOC v. Scott Medical Health Center, the EEOC brought
Does Title VII cover sexual orientation claims? It depends.
In July 2015, the EEOC officially took the position that sexual orientation claims may be brought under the non-discrimination provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, in the recent case of Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, the Seventh Circuit refused to accept the EEOC’s position and affirmed the
DOL’s new salary rule is a mixed bag for employers
Adding to the recent flurry of federal regulatory activity, on May 18, 2016, the United States Department of Labor‘s Wage and Hour Division issued a final rule on overtime that raises the salary threshold for exempt employees under
Texas’ new open carry law
Effective January 1, 2016, licensed Texas residents are permitted to openly carry a handgun. Specifically, the new law authorizes individuals to obtain a license to openly carry a handgun in a shoulder or hip holster, but it continues to prohibit any weapons in 9 specific locations including schools, polling places, courts and court offices, secured
The deeper meaning behind Abercrombie besides failing to ask about an accommodation
As widely reported in its recent EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. decision, the United States Supreme Court held that employers cannot lawfully refuse to hire an applicant if the decision was motivated by the employer’s unwillingness to provide the applicant with an accommodation the applicant needs for religious reasons.
However, in so holding,
The new college landscape: unionizing grad students
In a matter that could have far-reaching implications for private universities throughout the US, the NLRB’s Regional Director for Region 2 dismissed a petition filed by graduate students of The New School in New York City, New York in which they sought to form a union in affiliation with the United Auto Workers (UAW).