EEOC Charge Filing Error Goes to Supreme Court

"The age discrimination case that was argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday turned on a hyper-technical issue that only an employment lawyer could love." - New York TimesLot's of great coverage out on the web regarding the oral argument conducted this week at the Supreme Court in Federal Express Corporation v. Holowecki. This case presents the question of what may constitute a "charge" of discrimination that a potential plaintiff must submit to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

FMLA Set to Expand

President Bush will most likely soon sign into law the first extension of benefits under the FMLA since its 1993 enactment.The story is in an article this week at Workforce.com:The FMLA expansion would enable spouses, children, parents or next of kin to wounded military service personnel to take 26 weeks of unpaid leave to care for their loved one. That's more than double the 12 weeks of time off for the birth or adoption of a child or the sickness of a close relative provided currently under...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Tyson Wants High Court to Redefine "Work"

Lawyers for Tyson Foods are challenging a U.S. appeals court ruling that compensable work includes the putting on and taking off of protective work clothing and are calling on the Supreme Court to resolve what the company claims to be a conflict in the courts of appeal.Monday's petition for a writ of certiorari was filed with the Supreme Court by attorneys representing poultry processor Tyson Foods Inc., which faces more than 30 wage-and-hour lawsuits on behalf of tens of thousands of factory...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Sidley Austin Agrees to Pay $27.5 Million to Settle Suit

In a closely watched case I last wrote about here, the law firm Sidley Austin Brown & Wood has agreed to pay $27.5 million dollars to settle an age bias suit brought against it by the EEOC. The case had to do with the question of the EEOC's ability to seek money damages and reinstatement for partners who were downgraded from partner status by the firm in 1999 and others forced out because of an age-based retirement policy.The firm had long argued that the partners were just that, partners,...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

5th Circuit: ADA Standard of Proof is "Motivating Factor"

Both the Developments in EEO Law Blog and Jottings of an Employer's Lawyer had coverage last week of a recent Fifth Circuit decision finally putting a steak through the heart of the tired old "sole cause" standard of causation in cases under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. The case is Pinkerton v. Paige and in holding that the standard is the same in both cases, the court stated: "[u]nder a plain reading of the statute, and in accord with the position of other circuits, we conclude that...

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[Source: HR Lawyer's Blog]

Ciresi (sort of) gets mentioned on Letterman

U.S. Senate hopeful Al Franken was a guest on Letterman tonight. Dave, of course, asked Franken about the Eliot Spitzer call girl scandal, and Franken quipped that, if elected, he promised not to do anything that stupid.

When Letterman asked Franken how his campaign in Minnesota was going, Franken replied that his "chief rival" for the DFL nomination had dropped out -- an obvious reference to Minneapolis trial attorney Mike Ciresi.

"Why did he drop out?" Letterman asked. And then, without waiting for a response and apparently still in Spitzer mode, immediately added, "Whores?"

Kind of makes the real reason the Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi attorney dropped out -- not being able to garner the support of enough party delegates -- look a little, well, boring.

At first I felt bad that Ciresi's 15 minutes of fame had ticked by to the point that no one even bothered to identify him by name on the show. Then, reflecting on the tenor of Dave's joke, I came to the conclusion it was probably the biggest break he got during his entire campaign.

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[Source: Minnesota Lawyer Blog]

Happy birthday to us!

In two days, this blog celebrates its first birthday. That's right, March 20 is the one-year anniversary of the inaugural post on the Minnesota Lawyer blog.

Ah, yes, I remember those early days well. We started this blog with nothing but $20 million and a dream ... OK, OK, it was more like $1.50 and a catnap, but you get the idea.

At this milestone occasion, we'd like to thank you, our loyal readers, for your continuing interest and support. (Heck, for that matter, we'll even thank the disloyal ones ...)

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[Source: Minnesota Lawyer Blog]