Blog

A baby clothing company in Texas is receiving a lot of online backlash after denying an employee's request to work remotely while her newly adopted premature baby was in the NICU, nine hours away from home.  After the backlash, the CEO has issued two apology videos.   Some...

A couple of years ago, our son was in a pretty serious skiing accident.  The edge of his ski clipped some ice and he was launched off the trail and into the woods where he hit a tree.  Thankfully his leg took the impact and while he had to have two surgeries,...

I love a good non-work-related holiday party.  Work related? Not so much.  But both can get the host – and attendees – in trouble.  Here are some tips for avoiding lawsuits and headaches related to holiday parties.  You can also take a look and listen at last year's TalkLex...

The Supreme Court has a Title VII case this term, examining whether an "adverse employment action" can be established without a significant showing of harm or a "significant disadvantage", typically financial, when an employee has been transferred but not fired.  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of...

Last week we got a call from the EEOC Buffalo office letting us know that a charge we recently filed looks to be the first eligible under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act!  Effective June 27, 2023, the PWFA is a new law that provides a federal right to reasonable accommodations for limitations...

We periodically write about the potential employment consequences of social media use.   Right now, we are seeing controversy with respect to posts about current events in the Middle East.  Israel was recently attacked by Hamas terrorists, and there is now war in the region with many innocent people caught in the crossfire. ...

World Mental Health Day was marked this year on October 10, 2023.  Individuals with mental health conditions are protected in the workplace in several different ways, but we will see employers having difficulty in this context.  Whether it's because of stigmas associated with mental health conditions, or a lack...

Claudia Goldin, the first woman to receive tenure in Harvard's economics department, received the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics this week for her work in studying the gender pay gap over the course of her career.  According to the Prize announcement Goldin "provided the first comprehensive account of...

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has compiled a number of statistics on how distracted driving affects people nationwide. The Administration reports that a total of 3,522 people were killed in distracted driving accidents in the year 2021. This number is out of nearly half a million total accidents that involved distracted driving.   Estimates...

As of June 27, 2023, we have a new law in effect on the national level: the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA).  This law finally gives pregnant workers the right to reasonable accommodations for limitations relating to pregnancy, childbirth and pregnancy-related medical conditions.  The PWFA applies to public and private employers...

Members of the LGBTQ+ community are protected from discrimination and harassment in the workplace under both New York State and federal law.  The New York Human Rights Law explicitly lists sexual orientation and gender identity as protected statuses, and the United States Supreme Court – in the landmark 2020 civil rights case Bostock...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.  Individuals with mental health conditions are protected in the workplace in several different ways, but we will see employers having difficulty in this context.  Whether it's because of stigmas associated with mental health conditions, or a lack of awareness as to how to handle situations where...