While I was attending the ABA Board of Governors meeting last week, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services that received outsized coverage given it’s relative minor impact to employers in the Constitution State.
So what did the Court hold? In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court struck
With the recent focus on the new Paid Sick Leave law coming in a few weeks, it’s been easy to miss a few court cases that have come out recently that should be of interest to employers and their counsel.
One such case, O’Reggio v. Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities, provides important guidance
For those of you that haven’t read the 91-page primary decision last Tuesday from the Connecticut Supreme Court in Dur-A-Flex, Inc. v. Dy, there’s a lot to unpack from an enforcement of trade secret perspective, which goes a bit beyond the scope of this blog.
But buried deep in the decision is an interesting
In a case that will be officially released on Tuesday, the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld the damages award for former employee in a wrongful termination lawsuit, ruling that the plaintiff provided sufficient evidence to reasonably estimate his lost wages.
The court found that the plaintiff’s testimonial evidence, backed by proven facts, satisfied the reasonable certainty
Suppose an employee or tenant is the victim of housing or employment discrimination/harassment; what is the value of the ordinary (or in the court’s words “garden variety”) emotional distress that person suffers as a result of such discrimination or harassment.
I’ve actually talked about this before; back in 2021, the Appellate Court was asked
Engaging in the interactive process is an important — and sometimes overlooked — part of an employer’s response to a request for a reasonable accommodation under state and federal law.
I talked about this way back in 2008 (!) when the state Supreme Court released it’s landmark Curry v. Allen S. Goodman decision expanding the
It would be easy to say that the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday has nothing to do with the workplace and therefore presents no employment law issues.
But such an approach would not only be foolish, it would be wrong.
The full impact of the decision will be felt for an entire generation while a full analysis of the decision’s impact will take some more time too (though my partners have done a great job with one here). But it’s apparent from the first few reads of the Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is that it presents a real challenge for employers and is so disruptive in so many ways both for employers and employees.
First, the decision minimizes (at best) or ignores (at worst) the concept of “stare decisis” which is that the Court’s prior decisions become binding precedent — and therefore have meaning. People can rely on those decisions to predict what will happen next and respect the decision once it gets made. If the Court undermines that concept, it risks becoming exactly like the much maligned National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB is a federal agency that, some would argue, changes its mind depending on how the Board is composed (whether Democrat majority or Republican). For example of such a flip flop, see one of my prior posts about the NLRB here.
This is not a good thing; the Rule of Law depends on people having some faith in the institution itself. If people think the system is rigged to whatever party is in power, then the more likely they will be to minimize its importance or keep fighting until they think the system is in their favor. Stare Decisis provided some measure of comfort to parties and gave employers the opportunity to plan for the future.Continue Reading Dobbs and the Impact of the Court’s Decision for Employers
There’s going to be lots of virtual ink spilled about the politics of the Supreme Court’s decision today and the ultimate ramifications of the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard. In case you hadn’t heard, the Supreme Court this afternoon decided to grant a stay of the OSHA rule, meaning it is on hold and employers now
Before the pandemic (remember then?), you may recall a case last year that drew headlines: Chip’s Family Restaurants was having issues with a class action lawsuit filed against the small chain by allegedly improperly deducting a tip credit from server earnings thereby paying those potential class members below the minimum wage for the performance of
Honestly, it’s so hard to find the words to recognize the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
There are the cute anecdotes about how my wife shared a legal assistant with Justice Ginsburg’s late husband, Marty, or how I’m pretty sure I talked with her at a holiday party many many years ago. Or how