States Passing Preemptive Bills to Prevent Passage of Paid Sick Leave Laws

I am consistently surprised by the widespread assumption that employers are obligated to provide paid sick leave.  For those whose employers generously offer paid time off for sick employees, it seems a basic right.  And a reasonable one, at that.  And there is a very common misconception that the …

Read more ›

Plaintiffs in Unsuccessful Class Action Pursue Individual Claims

After seeing their nation-wide gender discrimination class action dismissed by the Supreme Court of the United States, the Wal-Mart Plaintiffs did not just throw up their hands and concede defeat.  Instead, they’ve decided that if the highest court will not allow them to proceed as one large nation-wide class, that they will simply have to enforce their …

Read more ›

Voluntary Classification Settlement Program Aims to Resolve Employee Misclassification as Independent Contractors

The IRS has recently implemented a program called the “Voluntary Classification Settlement Program” (“VCSP”).  The program allows eligible employers to pay a small sum in order to obtain partial relief from federal employment taxes for previous mis-characterizations of workers as “independent contractors” when such individuals should have received classification …

Read more ›

Add Your Voice to the Call to End Unemployment Discrimination in Illinois

As appalling as it may be, a shocking number of employers these days are publishing job listings with the caveat that the unemployed need not apply.  This unemployment discrimination is so backwards and plain old wrong that I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it.  We are …

Read more ›

An Inspiring Article about the Struggles of Coming Out at Work

Earlier this week Rick Welts, the former Executive Vice President of the NBA and the current President and Chief Executive of the Phoenix Suns professional basketball team, opened up about his sexuality.  After decades of living what the New York Times refers to as a “shadow life,” he felt it was time …

Read more ›

Vote Yes for SB 128 – Healthy Workplace Act – Senator Sandoval

This bill would provide for paid sick leave for Illinois workers.

Requires an employer to provide an employee up to 7 sick days with pay during each 12-month period. Provides that an employee may use the sick days care for physical or mental illness, injury, medical condition, professional medical diagnosis or care, …

Read more ›

Unjustified “For Cause” Termination Leads to Significant Jury Award in Workplace Defamation Claim

The Appellate Court for the First District of Illinois recently upheld a jury verdict awarding the plaintiff $2 million dollars in compensatory damages and $6 million dollars in punitive damages for a workplace defamation claim.  Leyshon v. Diehl Controls North America, Inc., 2010 WL 5480668 (Ill. App. 1st …

Read more ›

Supreme Court Expands Title VII to Prohibit Third Party Retaliation

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court ruled that an employee may sue for retaliation where his employer took an adverse action against him in retaliation for his fiancee’s complaint of discrimination.  This decision provides much needed protection to the friends, family members, and loved ones of an individual who complains at work …

Read more ›

Having trouble getting private health insurance because of a pre-existing condition?  You’re certainly not alone.  It is estimated that 15.9 percent of Americans are uninsured, many for precisely the same reason.  While President Obama’s health care legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, explicitly prohibits denying an individual health insurance because of pre-existing conditions or a history of high …

Read more ›

EEOC Extends ADA Protections to Employee Based on Weight

We have all heard the taglines and statistics regarding the obesity epidemic in this country.  Still, the plain reality is this: an increasing number of Americans are becoming overweight or obese.  A recent survey reports that 63.1% of adults in the U.S. were either overweight or obese in 2009 (of those, 36.6% …

Read more ›