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U.S. Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, has introduced an emergency bill -- the Emergency Influenza Containment Act -- that would guarantee five days of paid sick leave for workers sent home for contagious illnesses. The House labor committee will hold a hearing on the bill on Nov. 16.
The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against Administaff, a Texas-based human resources contractor for small and medium-sized businesses, and Conn-X, LLC, which provides cable services in the Baltimore metro area. The EEOC alleged in suit papers that two brothers were subjected to religious discrimination for being Jewish. According to court documents, the men were subjected to anti-Semitic slurs by managers and co-workers, the painting of a swastika on one of the men's work truck and physical harassment. Administaff severed its co-employment status with Conn-X shortly after one of the brothers filed charges with the EEOC. An Administaff spokeswoman told Maryland Employment Law Reporter the company has a strict anti-harassment policy and will vigorously defend itself against the charges. Conn-X could not be reached for comment.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor held a hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, HR 3017, on Nov. 5. Panelists pointed out that the bill would clear up present ambiguity as to whether Title VII applies to the gay community. The former head of Maryland's labor department, Thomas Perez, testified. He told Capitol Hill lawmakers that passage of the bill is a priority of the Obama Administration and predicted that it will become law sometime next year. The House labor committee held a hearing on the bill in September (see MELR October 2009).
Tyson Foods violated the FLSA when it failed to pay production line employees for the time they spend donning and doffing safety and sanitary gear, the Labor Department announced Nov. 5. DOL Secretary Hilda Solis said the addition of 250 new field investigators made it clear that DOL intends to go after employers who violate federal labor laws. About 3,000 workers at the poultry producers Alabama facility are affected.
President Obama has signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. The law, among other things, expands FMLA exigency leave to family members of active duty servicemen and women. The act also expands the period for which caregiver leave can be provided. FMLA coverage for military families was first extended in 2008 to family members of National Guard or reserves called to active duty. Another refinement to exigency leave was put into place earlier this year.
Employers bear the burden of proving that they were prejudiced when workers fail to give timely notice of workplace injuries, the Court of Special Appeals ruled Oct. 29 in a reported opinion. The court's holding arose from a case where a steel worker argued that even if her written notice of a workplace injury was untimely; her employer, ISG Sparrows Point, had produced no evidence whatsoever to show that it was prejudiced as a result.
Maryland's federal trial court has rejected Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's claim of legislative immunity against an administrative subpoena in an EEOC investigation stemming from age discrimination claims made by 15 former employees. The employees were cut during a reorganization. As required by state law, WSSC submitted its budget to Prince George's County and Montgomery County councils for approval. The published case was posted Oct. 27.
The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission has issued a guidance for employers to use in dealing with the H1N1 flu. The information is expected to help employers comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) during the influenza pandemic. Employers may send employees home if they exhibit flu-like symptoms, may require infection control procedures such as hand-washing but may not require employees to get a flu shot.
The EEOC has revised its "Equal Opportunity is the Law" poster. The new version shows current federal anti-discrimination laws and includes the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA). The poster also includes information about the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), which becomes effective Nov. 21.
The EEOC and the Department Of Justice will hold four listening sessions to give individuals and businesses a chance to express their opinions on the newly proposed Americans with Disabilities Act regulations. The ADA amendments went into effect Jan. 1 (see MELR January 2009). The session closest to Maryland will be held in Philadelphia, PA on Oct. 30.
The director of small business and minority enterprise development for the city of Annapolis waited too long to file her Title VII claims of discrimination and retaliation against the city, Maryland's federal trial court ruled in an unpublished case posted on Oct. 20.
Although the reasons given for an insurance plan's denial of short-term disability benefits were not frivolous, the purpose of insurance is to provide coverage to those who have contracted for it. The plain language of an ERISA's plan documents mean that a construction worker is entitled to coverage, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland wrote in a published opinion issued on Oct. 15.
Lorelei Boylan withdrew her bid to head up the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division on Oct. 13. Her nomination has been pending in the Senate since April.
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Maryland's federal trial court denied the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services summary judgment on Oct. 8 in a lawsuit brought by an African-American woman who claimed that a white supervisor discriminated against her by concealing a posting for a job the woman sought. The supervisor then hired a white woman in the position. The court said there was a genuine dispute as to whether the supervisor had discriminated against the black worker. The case is published.
The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009 (S. 931) was part of the agenda at an Oct. 7 hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill (see MELR June 2009) provides that pre-dispute arbitration agreements aimed at civil rights and employment complaints are not valid. The measure would overturn a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision and several Maryland court decisions.
Congressional Democrats introduced a bill on Oct. 6 that would overturn a four-month-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Gross v. F.B.L. Financial Services (see MELR July 2009), that raised the legal bar for plaintiffs claiming age discrimination. The "Protecting Older Workers Against Age Discrimination" Act has the support of the AARP.
When does the clock start ticking in Title VII disparate impact claims? The U.S. Supreme Court will tackle that question this term. The term started Oct. 5.
Courts rarely overturn hearing examiner decisions, but in a reported opinion posted on Oct. 5, the state's Court of Special Appeals did just that. The appellate court said the examiner's decision was arbitrary as he substituted his judgment for that of a surgeon in a case involving a firefighter's disability.
Although the U.S Department of Labor was recently criticized by the General Accountabilty Office for weak enforcement of an issue -- employee misidentification -- that DOL claims to be a priority, the Free State has taken a stronger stance on the topic. The "Workplace Fraud Act of 2009" went into effect Oct. 1. State investigators can now crack down on violators with tools including financial penalties.
Maryland's federal trial court on Sept. 30 established a two-part test -- borrowed from a 2nd Circuit case -- for determining job-related medical exams under the ADA.
The U.S. House Education and Labor Committe debated on Sept. 23 the merits of a bill that would outlaw workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (see MELR October 2009). Rep. Barney Frank, H.R. 3017's sponsor, testified and pooh-poohed predictions that the bill's passage would open up a floodgate of litigation. Frank said prohibitions against other forms of workplace discrimination had not overwhelmed the courts with lawsuits.
USDC Maryland ruled Sept. 22 that only Article III courts can determine whether subpoenaed documents are protected under privilege rules. The National Labor Relations Board had brought the suit, arguing that it could order the production of documents in a case.
A surviving spouse can lay claim to a deceased worker's disability benefits, the Court of Special Appeals ruled Sept. 2 in a published opinion.
The EEOC wants to go back to the original, more expansive definition of disability used under the ADA when it was enacted in 1990. Under a rule recently proposed by the agency, some impairments will consistently meet the definition of disability. Presently, the determination is made on a case-by-case basis. The 60-day comment period on the proprosal started Sept. 21.
Baltimore-based Mars Super Markets, Inc. has agreed to pay $275,000 to settle a class action discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. According to court documents, the grocer refused to hire a part-time deli clerk as an apprentice meat cutter because she is a woman. The EEOC said the store had a pattern of failing to hire women as meat cutters and also failed to preserve personnel and employment records. The grocer also agreed to undertake several steps to prevent future gender discrimination at its stores.
Greater Baltimore Medical Center has been sued by the EEOC for violating federal law when it allegedly fired a clerk because he had a genetic disorder. EEOC claimed that GBMC denied the worker any reasonable accommodation and then terminated his employment. Michael Turner had worked at GBMC since 1984. The suit was filed Sept. 16.
Gossip Girl: The EEOC's hiring of five additional attorneys seems to be reflected in the slew of lawsuits and settlements recently announced by the agency. In addition to GBMC, other Maryland companies facing federal regulatory ire include Sunbelt Rentals, Norfolk Southern Railway, Axiom Staffing, CTI Global Solutions, Freeman Companies, Able Engineering, Data Transformation and Oracle Transcription.
"Donning and doffing" -- a contentious issue for employers -- also seems to be contentious for Maryland's federal trial judges. Two judges examined the concept and came down on separate sides. Judge Andre Davis ruled that a poultry plant has to pay its workers for the time they spend "donning and doffing" protective work gear (see MELR May 2009). Although attorneys for Mountaire Farms said they will appeal, the ruling could subject the company to $875,000 in damages. Davis's April 2009 decision is at odds with one recently issued by Senior Judge Marvin J. Garbis. Garbis, who sits on the same court, dismissed a class action donning-and-doffing case in September 2008 (see MELR October 2008), ruling that Allen Family Foods did not have to pay its workers. Davis might have the last word, the respected judge is expected any day now to to be appointed to the federal appeals court. |