by James E. McCollum, Jr. | Aug 25, 2020 | DC Employment Law, Maryland Employment Law
When the coronavirus first hit and businesses had to shut down, many employers were forced to implement furloughs and layoffs quickly. Not all employers necessarily took the time to properly analyze (or better yet, engage an attorney to analyze) who was being affected. Some of those personnel decisions may be having a disproportionate effect on workers of a particular race, ethnicity, gender or age. If this has happened in your workplace, you could be vulnerable to a “disparate impact” claim under federal or state anti-discrimination law. Similarly, if you have been lucky enough to avoid layoffs or furloughs in large numbers but expect to have to implement them in coming weeks, you’ll be setting yourself up for problems if you don’t…
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by James E. McCollum, Jr. | Mar 14, 2020 | ADA, DC Employment Law, EEOC, Legal Tip of the Week, Maryland Employment Law
If an employer has grown weary of its employees sneezing and coughing everywhere and on everyone, that employer should feel free to adopt and enforce policies regarding infection-control practices, such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage and disposal.
by James E. McCollum, Jr. | Apr 30, 2019 | DC Employment Law, Maryland Employment Law
The United States Department of Labor has a regulation that prohibits a federal contractor from discriminating against an applicant for employment or discharging an employee because the applicant or employee has inquired about, discussed, or disclosed his or her own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant.
by James E. McCollum, Jr. | Mar 29, 2019 | DC Employment Law, Maryland Employment Law
An employee claiming a severe or pervasive hostile work environment because of her sex can obtain relief under Title VII. In its simplest terms, the elements of a claim under Title VII for a hostile work environment against an employer, because of sex, consists of the following: (1) “unwelcome” conduct; (2) based on the employee’s sex; (3) that was “sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive atmosphere;” and (4) that is, on some basis, imputable to the employer.
by James E. McCollum, Jr. | Feb 12, 2019 | ADA, Maryland Employment Law
If an employer takes a negative employment action (firing, refusing to hire, demoting, refusing to promote, etc.) against an employee with a physical, mental or even emotional disability, the disability can’t be the reason.
by James E. McCollum, Jr. | Apr 22, 2018 | Maryland Employment Law
The Supreme Court of the United States determined that service advisors for an automobile dealership were salespersons who serviced automobiles. As such, they were exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act overtime-pay requirements. Therefore, service advisors will now need to look to their state law to determine if they may be eligible for overtime pay.
