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Month: April 2020

Are Salaried “White Collar” Workers Who Make Below $684 Per Week Entitled to Overtime?

by | Apr 30, 2020 |

The federal overtime law, called the Fair Labor Standards Act, exempts employers from paying overtime wages to workers who are classified as “executive,” “administrative” or “professional” employees.  These exemptions are colloquially called “white collar” exemptions. State overtime laws often have similar “white collar” exemptions. Applying these exemptions is far more nuanced than their moniker suggests. There are complex, multi-pronged legal tests…

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After-Acquired Evidence and Self-Help Discovery: What Employees Need to Know

On Behalf of | Apr 28, 2020 |

Evidence-gathering is one of the most critical parts of any employment discrimination lawsuit. In the normal course of litigation, wrongfully terminated employees may use discovery tools to obtain evidence to prove their case. However, sometimes—due to mistrust in an employer, lack of knowledge about the legal system, or uncertainty that they even want to file a lawsuit—wrongfully terminated employees take…

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Prior Pay Cannot Be Used To Justify Paying Women Less In Ninth Circuit

On Behalf of | Apr 28, 2020 | , ,

“In 1963, Congress enacted the Equal Pay Act with a mandate as simple as it was profound: equal pay for equal work.” So begins the opinion in Rizo v. Yovino, a recent Ninth Circuit case holding that prior pay may not be used to justify a pay discrepancy between men and women—even if it is one factor among several. (In a…

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Compliance Officers May Receive Awards for Submitting Whistleblower Complaints to the SEC or CFTC

On Behalf of | Apr 20, 2020 | ,

The SEC recently made a notable decision to provide an award to a whistleblower who had compliance-related responsibilities at the company where the whistleblower worked. The award of $450,000 was the SEC’s third whistleblower award to an individual who had compliance or internal audit responsibilities, according to the SEC’s press release. The SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs, which were established by…

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Amendments to New York Laws Provide Increased Protections to Workers

by | Apr 14, 2020 |

Because anti-discrimination laws vary state-to-state, your rights in the workplace depend on the state in which you live or work. New York was the first state to enact a law prohibiting employment discrimination, which has recently been amended to include stronger protections for workers. Last summer, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law amendments to New York’s anti-discrimination, sexual harassment, and labor laws,…

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National Origin and Race Discrimination During the COVID-19 Outbreak

by | Apr 9, 2020 |

Asian Americans are facing a surge of discrimination and harassment, and in some cases, violence, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The STOP AAPI HATE reporting center has documented over 1,100 reports of coronavirus-related discrimination since March 19, 2020. While many of these incidents occur in the few places still available to the public, there are valid concerns that incidents of anti-Asian…

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Employee Arbitration Agreements

On Behalf of | Apr 9, 2020 |

It’s becoming more and more common in U.S. workplaces. Employers are asking employees to sign an arbitration agreement, giving up the right to sue over job-related issues. If an employee signs an agreement, it means that the employee must pursue any legal claims against his/her employer through arbitration, rather than a lawsuit. Employee arbitration agreements can come back to haunt you.…

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Supreme Court Endorses Mixed-Motive Age Discrimination Claims for Federal Sector Employees

by | Apr 6, 2020 |

In cases against private employers under the Age Discrimination of Employment Act (ADEA), employees must establish traditionally “but for” causation. See Gross v. FBL Fin. Servs., 557 U.S. 167 (2009). This basically means that the termination or other adverse action at issue would not have happened without the unlawful discriminatory motive. This standard is grounded in the language of the statute,…

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Coronavirus and the Americans with Disabilities Act: Unpacking Recent EEOC Guidance

by | Apr 1, 2020 |

As the coronavirus pandemic unfolds, working people are faced with a number of significant challenges, from navigating extended periods of working remotely to experiencing mass layoffs. Because the current situation is in many ways unprecedented, it can be unclear what an employer may legally require of an employee during this time. In March, the EEOC, a federal agency responsible for…

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What Antidiscrimination Laws Protect Volunteer Healthcare Providers in New York?

by | Apr 1, 2020 | ,

These are extraordinary times for the healthcare system in the United States.  As of this writing, at least 206,233 Americans are known to have been infected with the coronavirus, and at least 4,576 of those individuals have died.  Of the Americans who have tested positive for the virus, at least 83,887 are from New York, the state hardest hit by the pandemic.  And the majority of those cases…

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