The Chicago Public School System recently came under fire after it was alleged a number of teachers were fired on the basis of their pregnancies. A federal discrimination lawsuit has been filed. The district staunchly denies this assertion, insisting the teachers were let go as a result of performance ratings,…
Wage theft is a serious problem within many varying industries. It’s worth noting there is an overall increase in wage-and-hour lawsuits, due to a combination of factors that includes workers becoming more aware of their rights, more active state and federal regulators and advanced technology that allows employees to conduct…
A California labor lawsuit has been filed by a former Wal-Mart pharmacist on behalf of all pharmacists working for the retailer, alleging missed breaks and unpaid overtime. Plaintiff in Nikmanesh v. Wal-Mart worked for the company for more than a decade, from 2003 through 2014. He alleges that in addition…
Truckers have a tough job, working long hours, traveling long distances and navigating tough terrain with heavy machinery. The job can be made even more difficult when bosses engage in racial discrimination. Yet time and again, we hear about trucking companies discriminating against their workers on the basis of race.…
A high-profile gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit is underway in Silicon Valley, with one of the area’s oldest venture capital firms in the center of the storm. In her complaint, Ellen Pao claims she was subjected to five years of retaliation after she refused sexual advances from several of the…
Plaintiff in Ledbetter v. Good Samaritan Ministries may have an uphill battle in proving his employment retaliation case, but there were too many “loose ends” for the trial court to have declared a summary judgment in favor of the defense, a federal appellate court recently ruled. According to the decision…
For more than two decades, health care workers were given the option to waive a second meal break that would otherwise be required on shifts longer than eight hours under the Industrial Welfare Commission’s Wage Orders, or IWC. However, in the recent decision of Gerard v. Orange Coast Mem. Medical…
When a company knows or should know a worker is under-reporting his or her hours, the firm can’t use the employee’s role to diminish its own responsibility under the Fair Labor Standards Act. That was according to the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in…
In Betts .v McDonald’s Corp., a large restaurant chain was named as a defendant by 10 Hispanic and African American men who allege their termination by a franchisee of three Virginia-based restaurants amounts to racial discrimination. It does seem the workers have a fair amount of proof necessary to win…
A successor company can be held liable for the discrimination and retaliation of its predecessor, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed. The appellate court also found in Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n v. N. Star Hospitality Inc. the successor firm can be compelled to initiate the…