Quick Hits: Unpaid Interns, Employee E-mail Privacy, LinkedIn Recommendations, Advice from the "Enemy", Retaliation, The "Restroom Issue"
With my work on the Law & Technology Symposium for the Connecticut Bar Foundation last week, there are several employment law topics that I haven't had time to discuss in full.
While I've shared some of these links via my Twitter feed (which you can find at twitter.com/danielschwartz), I thought I would recap some of the most newsworthy items of the month so far.
- A recent New York Times article indicated that the U.S. Department of Labor would be cracking down on employers' use (or misuse) of interns to avoid paying employees a true salary. The Employer Law Report has a summary of what the rules are regarding interns. The Ohio Employer Law Blog has a similar recap.
- For employers, a new case out of New Jersey suggests that some e-mail by an employee using the employer's computer system may still be private. This case -- while not directly applicable in Connecticut -- could have significant implications, as the New York Labor & Employment Law Report reports here.
- Should you worry about LinkedIn recommendations? Kane Bennett, of the Connecticut Business Litigation Blog reports on one of the first cases were such a recommendation was used as evidence in a lawsuit.
- As an employer, do you want to know how to keep an attorney who represents employees out of your business? A recent posting from a plaintiff's employment lawyer provides an insight on how to avoid litigation.
- It remains extremely difficult for employer's to get summary judgment on a retaliation case -- particularly in the Second Circuit. A new case reported on by the Wait a Second Blog highlights the difficulties when summarizing a recent Second Circuit decision.
- The "Restroom Issue", as it has been called, is one that employers sometimes struggle with when trying to address gender identity issues. This recent posting discusses some of the issues that employers may face and some solutions to handling it.
