The Majority Opinion: Legal Blog

The week back after Thanksgiving break is normally always hectic.  This year in particular was no exception.  While I would normally prefer to highlight several articles, this week I am going to keep it brief as I have been traveling for work quite a bit and have not had as much time as I would have liked to read through articles. As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week. Austin Court of Appeals Issues Injunction to Block Austin’s Paid Leave Ordinance A few weeks ago, a three judge panel from the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin issued a temporary injunction to block Austin’s paid leave ordinance passed by the City Council back in February .  That paid leave ordinance, a rarity in Texas, would have required most employers in the city to offer their employees six to eight days of paid leave for a year of work, depending on the size of the employer.  Critics of the ordinance scrambled to block its implementation before its expect...

As always, there are some EEOC cases that jump out at me when I review developments on that front.  Below are a couple EEOC cases and settlements that stand out. Whole Foods Settles Disability Discrimination Suit Whole Foods has agreed to pay $65,000.00 to settle a disability discrimination suit filed by a former cashier at one of its locations in Raleigh, North Carolina.  This particular employee, hired in 2005, suffered from a kidney disease.  In 2009, she had a kidney transplant.  In 2015, she was hospitalized for a few days as a result of her condition and missed work.  Although Whole Foods was notified of the situation and the employee’s request for time off for her kidney impairment, Whole Foods ended up terminating her employment because of the absences.  This conduct is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) which prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because of a disability and requires employers to...

Earlier this week, Rick Santorum (former Republican Senator from Pennsylvania and Republican presidential candidate) wrote an article in which he advocated for Congress to embrace paid family leave and work to pass a bipartisan bill.  Some might not call this groundbreaking news.  However, it is noteworthy in so much that a (former) major player among Republicans has come out so openly in support of the measure.  (Of course, Santorum does not have the same power/reach that he did several years ago.  Although his stature among Republicans does still give him a voice on critical matters). Readers will recall that Democrats will retake control of the House of Representatives next year while Republicans will retain control of the Senate.  That means that in order to pass any legislation, it will become imperative for both parties to work together.  As Santorum writes, a paid family leave bill makes sense for working Americans in all areas of the employme...

Given that many readers are likely not working tomorrow or Friday, I wanted to get this post up before many left the office/workplace for the week.  With any luck, things will be slowing down by the end of this afternoon and this post will help readers get across the finish line into the Thanksgiving break. As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week. A Breakdown of State & Federal Meal and Rest Breaks By State The title says it all, really.   SwipeClock has provided a rather comprehensive list, by state, of the rest and meal breaks that are required by law.  This is well worth a quick review for employers and employees alike. Stop WalMart Act Introduced in U.S. Congress Last week, a bill was introduced in Congress that is designed to prohibit large employers from buying back stock unless they up worker wages to at least $15/hour, scale back pay for CEOs to no more than 150 times the mediation pay of all staffers, and allow em...

Doe v. Virgin America, Inc. , et al. - United States District Court, Northern District of California Facts :  Jane Doe ("Doe") worked as Vice President of Research Now, a global expert in online marketing research.  Doe's job responsibilities including "building and maintaining key strategic relationships with loyalty professionals, including airline representatives."  In October of 2016, Doe attended a conference in Toronto, Canada attended by professionals in the travel industry.  At the time, Stuart Dinnis ("Dinnis"), served as Virgin America, Inc.'s Director of Loyalty.  Dinnis also attended the conference in Tornoto.  Doe was informed that Dennis was an important person that she would need to meet with while at the conference.   At a conference related party, Doe introduced herself to Dinnis.  Dennis, who was "noticeably drunk", later spilled a drink on Doe.  When Doe and her colleagues returned to their hotel, Dinnis was...

Last week, the Department of Labor issued an opinion letter in which it rescinded guidance that said tipped workers that are paid less than minimum wage must spend most of their time performing tipped-wage duties.  That guidance, implemented during the President Barack Obama era Department of Labor (often referred to as the 80/20 rule ) required that the tipped workers spend 80% of their time performing tipped-wage duties such as waiting tables rather than folding napkins or cleaning dishes. In its letter, the Department of Labor noted that it intended to clarify the Field Operations Handbook section 30d00(e), which previously had resulted in some confusion and inconsistent application.  With the issuance of its opinion letter, the Department of Labor stated that the letter was intended to clarify FOH section 30d00(e) in a manner that not only ensured consistent application of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") but also gave employers a level of clarity to determin...

This past weekend, I was talking with an esteemed worker in the HR field and noted that this week, I would focus this post on HR related topics.  In doing so, I came across a few HR related articles worth highlighting.  Of note, I call attention to the first article that touches on the use of non-disclosure agreements for sexual harassment matters (in the workplace).  To the loyal HR readers of the blog, this particular article is worth a read, given the increased attention that sexual assault in the workplace has received. As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week. An Emerging Trend: Non-Disclosure Agreements For Sexual Harassment Matters By now, readers are likely familiar with the #MeToo movement which has brought attention to sexual harassment matters in the workplace.  Kate Palmer over at The HR Director wrote an article which points out a troubling trend that she has found:  rather than non-disclosure agreements be...