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IAML Insights
May 22, 2018
In a significant win for employers, the United States Supreme Court has issued a landmark decision upholding the use of class action waivers in employment arbitration agreements. This ruling permits employers across the country to enforce individual arbitration agreements with employees, even where the agreement requires an employee to...
May 18, 2018
I'm gonna say no. But yes, if you believe Katherine Goldstein of The New York Times. In "The Open Secret of Anti-Mom Bias at Work," she provides an anecdote about a female, feminist boss -- of all people -- who fired a pregnant employee based on her perception that the employee was "distracted" by the pregnancy and insufficiently "...
May 15, 2018
Who has the burden of proof in an ADA reasonable accommodation case? The employee, to prove a lack of an accommodation, or the employer, to prove the unavailability of an accommodation? In Snapp v. BNSF Railway, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals re-affirmed that the burden squarely rests on the shoulders of the employee. Snapp, a...
May 15, 2018
What a maroon. One of the oldest tricks in the book for trying to foil a drug test is to get someone else's "clean" sample of urine and substitute it for your own, "dirty," sample. There's only one problem with that trick -- the testing facilities are all onto it. And have been since, roughly, 1993. It's standard operating procedure for the...
May 10, 2018
On May 9, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released their spring 2018 regulatory agendas. There were a few surprises. The NLRB announced for the first time that it may consider rulemaking to resolve the legal standard governing joint...
May 10, 2018
When it comes to administering FMLA, I’ll admit — I have grown cynical and hardened. Like a doctor who becomes desensitized to blood and guts, I, too, have become desensitized to an employee’s antics while on FMLA leave. Taking FMLA leave for a beach vacation, you say? Sounds likely. Caring for your dying mother when, in reality, you need leave to...
