On June 1, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which covers Connecticut, New York and Vermont, upheld a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finding that Whole Foods Market Group, Inc.’s no-recording policy was overbroad and violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). In Whole Foods Market…
President Trump’s 2018 budget, released on May 23, proposes to merge the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by the end of FY 2018. The proposed merger purports to result in “one agency to combat employment discrimination.” The Trump administration asserts that…
Employers’ engagement of independent contractors has increased substantially in recent years. Short-term projects and the gig economy have fueled the need for workers, who are not looking (or are unable) to find permanent employment, but otherwise possess critical skills or talents desired by start-up and well-established companies. In light of this reality,…
On May 4, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a New York City Council bill that prohibits employers from inquiring about a prospective employee’s “salary history” during any stage of the employment process. In addition, the new law prevents employers, who happen to be aware of a job candidate’s salary…
Title VII prohibits employment discrimination because of sex. It does not, however, expressly prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation. Recently, federal courts have started to disregard this distinction in favor of concluding that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex…
Earlier this week, I reported in Murtha Cullina’s Labor and Employment Group News that the Second Circuit, which covers New York, Connecticut and Vermont, clarified that a single racist comment could support a claim for a discriminatory hostile work environment on the basis of race, where the comment constituted a…
Last week the EEOC released data for FY2016 indicating that the number of workplace charges filed with the EEOC increased for the second year in a row. According to the data, the EEOC received 91,503 charges of employment discrimination during FY 2016, which is a bit higher than the 89,385…
Over the last several years, federal courts have relied on the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) in enforcing predispute mandatory arbitration agreements between employers and employees, which require an individual employee to waive his or her rights to assert employment related claims in court, in favor of arbitration. Such agreements, however, do not…
On December 28, 2016, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) adopted final regulations scheduled to be effective, December 31, 2016, increasing the minimum salary thresholds for employees to be exempt from overtime under New York law. Although the NYSDOL had proposed the regulations in October 2016, they garnered…
On December 6, the New York Council introduced several bills as part of New York City’s “Fair Work Week” initiative. The bills primarily apply to certain fast food employers, as well as some retail establishments. These bills may never be enacted into law, and are still subject to negotiation and debate:…