By Porter Wright on Employers who have been concerned about the EEOC’s stance on inflexible maximum leave policies can find some comfort in the Tenth Circuit’s decision in Hwang v. Kansas State University, wherein the court held a six month leave of absence was a reasonable accommodation, and the University’s denial of additional time was not a violation of … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Courts in the past, including in the Sixth Circuit (which includes Ohio), have held that telecommuting is not required as a reasonable accommodation because regular attendance at work on a predictable schedule is an essential function of almost all jobs (excepting those that are regularly done by all employees from a remote location). On April 22nd, … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court finding of summary judgment in the employer’s favor in Demyanovich v. Cadon Plating & Coatings et al., concluding that Cadon Plating may be a covered employer under the FMLA based on its relationship with an affiliated company and that its termination of an employee … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In Russell v. Citigroup, Inc. the Sixth Circuit held that an agreement to arbitrate “all employment-related disputes” with the company does not include cases already pending in court when the employee signed the arbitration agreement. Background From 2004 to 2009, Keith Russell worked at Citicorp’s call center in Florence, Kentucky. As a condition of employment, … Continue Reading
By Brad Hughes on Two centuries ago, the Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court “rode the circuit” on horseback across the State, holding court in Ohio’s many county courthouses. A bit of that tradition survives today under the Court’s Off-Site Court Program, which is held twice a year outside of Columbus in order to educate high school students and … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Concluding that the employer’s failure to notify a pregnant employee of her FMLA rights and to reinstate her to her former position or any other equivalent position after taking leave unlawfully interfered with her FMLA rights, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Clements v. Prudential Protective Services, LLC, reversed a district court finding of summary judgment in the employer’s favor.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In Deleon v. Kalamazoo Cnty. Road Comm’n, a split Sixth Circuit panel concluded that the district court improperly granted the employer summary judgment on the plaintiff’s discrimination claims despite the fact that the alleged adverse employment action was a transfer that the plaintiff had actively sought only nine months earlier.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on For some, snowflakes bring thoughts of snowmen and sleigh rides. For others, they signal the beginning of closed business days, employees arriving late to work, and all sorts of other issues—all the result of inclement weather! Since many parts of the United States are currently dealing with the effects of, what-is-being-called, the “Polar Vortex,” we decided to take a look at some common headaches for employers caused by bad weather and provide you with some helpful guidance.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) prohibits more than just retaliation — it also prohibits interference. More specifically, the FMLA provides: “it shall be unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise, any right provided” by the FMLA and interference claims arise when an employer’s actions prevent or interfere with an eligible employee’s rights under the FMLA. 29 USC § 2615.
Two recent Ohio district court cases highlight just how important it is for employers to keep the interference provision in mind when navigating employee FMLA requests.… Continue Reading
By Brian Hall on I have to admit that I generally love it when a federal court judge begins an opinion with a flourish like this: “December 20, 2011, was defining day for Appellant Angela Powell-Pickett.” Almost made me think of Dickens’ “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” (OK, maybe not quite.) But I knew from that first line in the court’s opinion in Angela Powell-Pickett v. A.K Steel Corporation would be a good one. And I wasn’t disappointed.… Continue Reading
By Brian Hall on Two Sixth Circuit decisions issued last week underscore the hazards associated with terminating an employee between the time that she announces her pregnancy and any time shortly after she returns from pregnancy leave. Fortunately, both decisions, which uphold lower court summary judgment decisions, also demonstrate that an employer can escape liability when it has valid reasons for the termination, even when the termination was made at a time that was temporally close to the pregnancy announcement or the pregnancy itself.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's grant of Summary Judgment in James v. Hyatt Regency Chicago reminding employers they are under no obligation under the FMLA to restore an employee to his or her position if the employee is unable to perform the essential functions of the job.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The DOL recently issued its final regulations regarding expansion of military caregiver and qualifying exigency leave and regulations affecting flight crews. These new rules take effect this Friday, March 8. We covered these rules when they were initially proposed by the DOL.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on We hope you enjoyed our five-part series last week addressing the Top 5 Holiday Headaches for Employers. Due to popular demand, we have compiled this series into an eBook for you and have added a special bonus: Three FMLA Stocking Stuffers: How to Avoid a Big Lump of Coal… Continue Reading
By Brian Hall on The summary judgment decision issued on October 31st by Ohio federal district court judge David Dowd in Barnett v. Aultman Hospital contains important reminders for both private employers and their employees. For employers, there is the reminder that they are not bound by the First Amendment's protections for free speech. And for employees: Always remember to confirm that your supervisor actually has been fired before going to Facebook to celebrate.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Jaszczyszyn v. Advantage Health Physician Network, (6th Cir. Nov 7, 2012) involves three seemingly-unrelated topics: social media, Polish festivals, and the honest belief defense to FMLA claims. When combined, however, they turn into a fun set of facts that the Sixth Circuit recently got to chew on.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") requires an employer to restore an eligible employee who takes FMLA to the position the employee held when the FMLA leave commenced or to an equivalent position. Most cautious employers take this to mean that they cannot terminate an employee on the day he or she returns from FMLA leave; however, in Winterhalter v. Dykhuis Farms, Inc., Case No. 11-1743 (6th Cir. July 23, 2012), the Sixth Circuit allowed an employer to do just that under certain circumstances.… Continue Reading
By Brian Hall on The recent decision out of Texas in Sechler v. Modular Space Corporation highlights a recurring issue for employers -- managing employees who return to work following rehabilitation for substance abuse.… Continue Reading
By Brian Hall on Employers often defend against discrimination and retaliation claims by arguing that courts should not act like super human resources managers who second guess their employment decisions. A panel of the Sixth Circuit took that argument to heart in its May 8th decision in Seeger v. Cincinnati Bell Telephone Co., in which the court upheld summary … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On March 20, 2012, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that states cannot be sued for denying workers sick leave under the FMLA.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Department of Labor ("DOL") published proposed regulations to the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") on February 15, 2012, and the deadline for public comments has been extended through Monday, April 30, 2012.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The FMLA is a confusing topic for employers and human resource professionals. Many times, the mere mention of the letters "F" "M" "L" "A" out of an employee’s mouth are enough for the employer to grant the employee leave, no more questions asked. This is why two recent Ohio federal district court opinions are helpful … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Proposed Regulations: Yesterday, the Department of Labor published its proposed regulations (pdf) to address the recently enacted changes to military leave and eligibility requirements for flight crew members. Beyond the changes detailed below, the DOL clarified that employers are not required to provide employees with FMLA-protected military caregiver leave for the "serious injury or illness of … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Last month, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (which has jurisdiction over Florida, Georgia and Alabama) held that a pregnant employee, who provided several months notice to her employer of her intention to take leave upon the birth of her child, was protected under the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") despite the fact that … Continue Reading