Even Busta Rhymes Can’t Keep Settlement of Unpaid Overtime Claim Confidential

the situation An employer decides to settle a claim brought by an employee under the FLSA for unpaid overtime.  The employer would like to keep the settlement confidential—is that okay? the ruling Most likely no.  A federal court in New York recently rejected the parties’ joint motion for settlement approval that would have kept the […]

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Can’t I Do Something About These Unfounded Discrimination Claims?

the situation Your employee brings a claim of discrimination against your company which you believe is completely meritless. If you pursue a malicious prosecution charge against her, could you face a claim of retaliation?

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Employers face possible claims for failure to accommodate even where there is no actual knowledge of a need for accommodation

Back in March, I posted about the case before the United States Supreme Court involving a girl who claimed that she was discriminated against because of her religion when Abercrombie & Fitch didn’t hire her because of her headscarf. The Tenth Circuit had found that because the plaintiff did not inform Abercrombie before its hiring […]

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The Fluctuating Workweek—A Working Option?

The general rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) is that non-exempt employees have to be paid for overtime at a rate of one and a half times their regular rate of pay. However, there is another option available to employers—the fluctuating workweek method, sometimes called the halftime method. If the fluctuating workweek model […]

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Expert Testimony Not Necessary to Support FMLA Claim

In order to be entitled to FMLA leave, an employee must be able to show that he or she is afflicted with a serious health condition and that the condition renders him or her unable to perform the essential functions of her job. But is a plaintiff who has brought a claim under the FMLA required to present expert testimony verifying that a serious health condition rendered him or her unable to work? Recently, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s award of summary judgment to an employer on this issue, finding that expert testimony is not necessary in order to make this showing. Hansen v. Fincantieri Marine Group, LLC, et al., No. 13-3391 (7th Cir. August 18, 2014).

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