08-11-2022

Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently told employees: "[T]here are real concerns that our productivity as a whole is not where it needs to be for the head count we have. [We need to] create a culture that is more mission-focused, more focused on our products, more customer-focused. We should think about how we can minimize distractions and really raise the bar on both product excellence and productivity."

08-10-2022

The National Labor Relations Board has ordered the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) to pay more than $13 million to the Alabama coal company it has been striking at for over a year. The NLRB found the union owed Warrior Met Coal Mining for increased security, damage repair, and lost revenues from unmined coal, plus interest.

08-09-2022

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals pointed to the questionable timing of First Data's Technologies' termination of an employee on intermittent FMLA leave including implementing the first performance plan three weeks after her initial accommodation request and concluded a reasonable jury could find that First Data discriminated against her.

08-04-2022

An employee told a NextGen HR director that she must have been sleepwalking and apologized after she entered a male employee's hotel room and got into bed. The employee reached out to her doctor and let the company know she was getting medical help. NextGen terminated her employment. The employee sued NextGen for disability discrimination under the ADA.

08-03-2022

A Southwest Airlines flight attendant expressed her strong feelings about abortion and the Transport Workers Union of America stance on her personal Facebook page - including using graphic videos of aborted fetuses and other hostile messages directly to the Union president. Southwest terminated her employment asserting that the employee was "identifiable" as an airline employee, and she represented the airline in a way that was "disparaging." Southwest said she violated the company's "Workplace Bullying and Hazing Policy" and its "Social Media Policy."

08-02-2022

Workers at a Trader Joe’s store in Western Massachusetts voted to unionize. They are the first Trader Joe's workers to create a union. The workers point to the company's reduction of their benefits, changes to their healthcare, and lack of address over their safety concerns as the basis for their vote.

07-28-2022

In May 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor released two guidance documents regarding mental health and the Family Medical Leave Act.

07-27-2022

The Department of Justice has filed suit against the City of Lansing, Michigan. The DOJ alleges that Lansing failed to provide Sylvia Coleman with a reasonable accommodation of her religion. Coleman is a Seventh Day Adventist whose religion required a Sabbath observance from sundown on Friday through sundown on Saturday.

07-26-2022

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit last year accusing the ride-hailing company of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. Under the settlement, Uber has agreed to waive wait times fees for riders who certify that they have a disability and offer refunds to disabled passengers charged for taking too long to enter their cars.