The n-word, historically known as a derogatory term for Black people, is offensive for several reasons. The term has been used for centuries to dehumanize Black people and to justify their enslavement, oppression, and. The word has a deeply painful and traumatic...
Many school districts will argue that they did not wrongfully terminate an employee because the person ceased to be employed as a result of a contract expiring. Does this work? Let’s dive in using a recent case as a springboard. In Moore v. Jackson Public School...
In Jungclaus v. Waverly Heights Ltd, No. 22-1908, 2023 WL 2182373, at *1 (3d Cir. Feb. 23, 2023), Kathleen Jungclaus worked at Waverly for almost 20 years, initially as Waverly’s Human Resources Director and then as Vice President of Human Resources. While in that...
Our employee’s rights attorneys have discussed it before, really bad employee conduct typically trumps a protected class. In Kilpatrick v. HCA Hum. Res., LLC, No. 22-5307, 2023 WL 1961223, (6th Cir. Feb. 13, 2023), HCA Human Resources (HCA) fired Montrell Kilpatrick...
In Boc v. Able Eng’g Servs., No. 22-1664, 2023 WL 2064151, at *1 (7th Cir. Feb. 17, 2023), Brian Boc, who quit his job as engineer, sued his former employer, Able Engineering Services, for disability discrimination and constructive discharge. Specifically, Boc argued...
The recent case of Bradley v. Dhybrid Systems, LLC, No. 21-4047, 2023 WL 1978683, at *1 (10th Cir. Feb. 14, 2023) provides a cautionary tale to both employers and employees regarding how to properly handle employment law claims and what can happen if you play games....
Recently, one of our employment attorneys sent a notice of claim to an employer on behalf of a wrongfully fired client. In an amenable communication, opposing counsel contacted our office on behalf of his employer client. He suggested that as a preliminary matter,...
In Jackson v. Humana Insurance Co., No. 22-2299, 2023 WL 2207632 (7th Cir. Feb. 24, 2023), the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit started its opinion by holding: “Humana Insurance Company fired LaTanya Jackson for failing to meet the essential...
On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a decision in the case of McLaren Macomb, Case No. 07-CA-263041. In this decision, the NLRB ruled that an employer, McLaren Macomb, violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) when it...
Failure to hire cases can be very difficult, but not impossible. Today, we look at the recent case of Connors v. Merit Energy Co., LLC, No. 22-2080, 2023 WL 2003622, (8th Cir. Feb. 15, 2023). In this case, Kimberly L. Connors worked as a lease operator by XTO Energy,...
The recent case of Watson v. School Board Of Franklin Parish out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit provides a few good lessons. Let’s start with the facts of the case. Esther Watson worked in education, including as a teacher for over twenty...
1994. Cleveland, Ohio. Art Modell had just stolen the Browns from Cleveland. The Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) had just moved into Jacob’s Field (now Progressive Field) and were fielding an amazing young team of players. I will die on the hill arguing that the...
Torrey Terrial Townsend was employed by First Student as a bus driver. After Townsend was fired for leaving keys in an unattended school bus, First Student fired him. Townsend, who is Black, sued her former employer for race discrimination and wrongful termination...
Today, our employment discrimination lawyers review another example of an employee being fired for bad conduct but trying to save her job by asserting employment discrimination. In this case out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit,...
Rafael Fox was promoted to be a store manager at Starbucks in New York. Fox was transferred to the West Broadway and Leonard store to replace the prior store manager, who had committed wage theft violations. In November 2017, New York City’s Fair Workweek legislation...
Meet Henry Diaz, a former police officer for the City of Somerville in Massachusetts. In the early morning hours of June 30, 2017, Diaz, who was off-duty at the time, was driving through East Boston. When a pedestrian stepped in front of his car, he stopped, got out...