By Michael A. Logan and Amelia Coates Noncompliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations may not singularly establish a negligence per se claim, but such evidence may be relevant to proximate cause in a simple negligence action. In 2015, the Corpus Christi-Edinburg Court of Appeals in 4Front Engineered Solutions, Inc. v. Rosales considered the trial court’s decision to admit evidence of an OSHA regulation concerning a forklift and a letter issued by OSHA…
OSHA Regulations: Admissible Evidence?
A SLIPPERY AREA FOR EMPLOYERS: “SHOES FOR CREWS”
Mike Logan and Alexandra Easley discuss recent cases concerning the popular “Shoes for Crews” program utilized by many restaurants. These new cases could have major implications on the use of this program by hospitality companies. Read the article here.
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear “Sincerity of Beliefs” Case
What is a “religious belief”? Can an employer question the sincerity of an employee’s alleged religious beliefs? The U.S. Supreme Court previously defined “religious belief” as a belief that is “religious” in the employee’s own scheme of things and sincerely held by the employee. In August of 2014, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a federal trial court’s ruling granting summary judgment on discrimination claims filed against Fort Bend County, Texas. The former employee, who…
New Overtime Rules: Changes are Coming
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) governs federal minimum wage and overtime pay. Currently, employees covered by the FLSA must be paid at least the federal minimum wage, and in most cases, overtime for all hours worked in excess of 40 in any work week. FLSA regulations also provide exemptions from federal minimum wage and overtime requirements for “white collar employees,” defined as salaried “executive, administrative and professional” employees who satisfy the minimum earnings and…
U.S. Supreme Court rules against Abercrombie
Today, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in favor of Samantha Elauf, a Muslim woman who was 17 years old when she was turned down for a job at Abercrombie & Fitch because she wore a hijab. Ms. Elauf was not hired because her headscarf violated Abercrombie’s “Look Policy”, which at the time did not allow hats. The company said that policy prevented sales models from wearing any kind of headwear, unless they requested and received an exception….
Class Actions over Background Checks Continue
As previously reported in an earlier blog post, retailers are under attack in a wave of class actions alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The allegations are essentially the same in all of these suits: that the employer failed to “properly” inform the prospective employee that their consumer reports was going to be utilized in the hiring process. Dollar Tree is the latest victim in a federal court filing in Florida. The Suit alleges…
Background Check Suits: Whole Foods Class Action to Continue
In a previous blog I discussed the multiple class actions that are pending and which address the issue of the Fair Credit Reporting Act requirements in connection with on-line employment applications. One of those cases involving Whole Foods Market Group will continue past the motion to dismiss stage. On March 30, Senior Federal Judge Richard A. Lazzara in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa Division) refused to dismiss the case, based on the allegation in the…
FMLA Same-Sex Spouse Rule: Enjoined
The new DOL same-sex rule that took effect this week under the Family and Medical Leave Act has been temporarily halted from enforcement. On March 26, the United States District Court in Dallas issued a preliminary injunction against application of the new rule. Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Nebraska filed suit seeking the injunction. The States challenged the new rule, which utilizes a “state of celebration” rather than state of residence as the determination of whether…
Family Medical Leave Act Now Covers Same-Sex Couples
The U.S. Department of Labor recently finalized a rule to extend the protections afforded by the Family Medical Leave Act to married same-sex couples. The new “place of celebration” rule allows all legally married couples, whether traditional same-sex marriages or opposite-sex marriages, to receive FLMA benefits. The definition of “spouse” was modified accordingly. The new rule also covers employees in lawfully recognized marriages entered into outside the United States. The effective date of the new rule…
Retailers Beware: Background Checks Continue To Be Subjected To Scrutiny and Class Action Litigation
Retailers are getting hit with a tsunami of class action litigation alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) guidelines, and related state laws. In general, these lawsuits all allege that the employers are in violation of the Act’s requirement to provide proper notice to the prospective employee that a consumer report is going to be utilized to determine whether they will be hired. In addition, the cases allege a multitude of…