Virginia Employer Law

Telecommuting—A Reasonable Accommodation?

Can an employee request the ability to work from home as a reasonable accommodation? And how easy is it for an employer to demonstrate that an employee’s physical presence in the workplace is required? In a world in which telecommuting is becoming ever more prevalent, yet companies still maintain that they benefit greatly from employees’ […]

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Burden of Showing Materially Adverse Action in Title VII Retaliation Claim Less Onerous Than Required to Show Adverse Employment Action for Purposes in Title VII Discrimination Claim

In its recent decision in Laster v. City of Kalamazoo, et al., No. 13-1640 (March 13, 2014), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reminded us that the type of adverse action required to support a retaliation claim under Title VII is very different than that necessary to support a claim for discrimination under Title VII. […]

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Fourth Circuit Rules That Retirement Plan Violates ADEA

Just a few weeks ago, the Fourth Circuit weighed in on the question of whether an employee retirement benefit plan maintained by Baltimore County discriminated against employees based on their age by requiring older employees to pay a greater percentage of their salaries based on their ages at the time of enrollment in the plan. […]

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Request for Vacation Not Protected by FMLA and Cannot Support Interference Claim

Does an employee’s request for leave have to be protected by the FMLA to give rise to a potential interference or retaliation claim? Last month, the Eleventh Circuit answer said yes in the case of Hurley v. Kent of Naples, Inc., et al., No. 13-10298 (11th Cir. 2014). Hurley was employed as the CEO for […]

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EEOC Has to Pay for Unreasonably Instituting Litigation

Title VII includes a fee-shifting provision, allowing district courts discretion to award reasonable attorneys’ fees to a prevailing party. But what if the non-prevailing party is the EEOC? The Fourth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s award of attorneys’ fees to a prevailing defendant in a case brought by the EEOC where the district court […]

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Ninth Circuit Rules–Employee Can Decline FMLA Leave

Employers are all aware that employees do not have to specifically ask for FMLA leave in order for it to be available. However, what if an employee specifically asks that leave not be counted as FMLA leave? In a recent decision, the Ninth Circuit ruled that an employee can affirmatively decline FMLA leave, even where […]

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And Another Non-Compete Bites the Dust

Employers and lawyers alike know how tough it can be to draft a non-compete certain to be enforceable in Virginia.  On March 6, 2013, in an Opinion Letter, Judge White of Fairfax Circuit Court denied a motion for preliminary injunction seeking to enforce a non-compete on the grounds that success on the merits was unlikely […]

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New Guidance From EEOC on Religious Garb and Grooming in the Workplace

Last week, the EEOC issued two new technical assistance publications related to workplace rights and responsibilities regarding religious dress and grooming under Title VII. The two publications issued by the EEOC are a question and answer guide, titled “Religious Garb in the Workplace: Rights and Responsibilities” and a fact sheet to accompany this publication (found […]

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United States Supreme Court to Weigh In on Whether Time Spent in Security Screenings is Compensable under FLSA

On Monday, the United States Supreme Court granted cert in a case involving the question of whether time spent by employees working for Amazon.com in security checks at the end of their shifts was compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). In Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, No. 11-16892 (9th Cir. 2013), two […]

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Tenth Circuit Tackles Supervisor Issue

In Vance v. Ball State Univ., 133 S.Ct. 2434, 2441 (2013), the Supreme Court resolved a conflict among the circuits regarding what level of authority a harasser must have in order to qualify as a supervisor under Title VII in the context of a claim of sexual harassment.  However, there remain questions as to how […]

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