As we predicted at our June 2 Employment Breakfast, the EEOC is forging an aggressive path to protecting the rights of Transgender employees
Karen Kalzer
Ms. Kalzer practices employment and education law with an emphasis on defending complex litigation for communities of faith, non-profits, schools and private employers.
Supreme Court Decides Pregnancy Discrimination Case
The United States Supreme Court ruled this morning that pregnant workers may be able to prevail in a civil lawsuit claiming lack of accommodations for pregnant workers
Retaliation Charges Continue to Dominate Discrimination Lawsuits
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency charged with enforcing our federal discrimination laws, yesterday released its litigation enforcement statistics for fiscal year 2014. The statistics confirm what we have all been observing: retaliation is the most frequently cited basis for discrimination lawsuits.
Employees Granted Email Access for Union Organizing
The National Labor Relations Board continues to make sweeping changes to the electronic workplace in the name of protecting concerted activities, specifically, union organizing. The NLRB’s impact on social media policies will be one of the issues we are examining in the Top 10 Employment Issues for 2014 (look for the Top 10 in January). […]
Protecting Your Business
Non-compete clauses are becoming more commonplace at every level, but are they becoming more enforceable?
Anti-Bullying Protections Creeping into Employment Law
On September 9, 2014, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a new requirement that employers with 50 or more employees provide two hours of supervisor training every two years which is to include a component on preventing “abusive conduct.”
New King County Lawsuit to Test Validity of Non Competes & Confidentiality Agreements
Non compete agreements (NCA), confidentiality agreements, and trade secrets practices are under attack in many states and Amazon’s recent lawsuit to enforce its NCA will tell us much about how the Washington courts will view the claims.
Supreme Court of the United States Recognizes Business Owners Have Religious Rights Too
The final Supreme Court opinion of the term held that forcing closely held, for-profit corporations to pay for contraception is a violation of their sincerely held religious beliefs and is illegal under federal law under Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius.
New Washington Law Extends Rights for Religious Practices
Governor Jay Inslee has signed in to law a bill that assures state employees (and public school students) two days off per calendar years for religious holiday. Our business clients, particularly those with heavy weekend and holiday need, may wish to anticipate similar requests being made to them as well for unpaid holidays as a “reasonable accommodation” for religious practices.
Seattle Minimum Wage Update
Lauren Parris Watts reviewed the implementation of the newly passed Seattle $15 Minimum Wage Ordinance at the latest Helsell Fetterman Employment Law Breakfast on June 3. We promised to keep out attendees informed about ongoing developments on this issue. The following is a quick rundown of the known challenges to the Ordinance.