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Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Protects For Pregnancy-Related Conditions
Effective at the end of June, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) is a new law that closes a gap in coverage under federal law for...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Aug 8, 20234 min read


Supreme Court Adopts Heightened Undue Hardship Standard in Title VII Religious Accommodation
Employers must modify their practices when evaluating requests for religious accommodations under Title VII. Undue hardship is no longer...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Aug 1, 20234 min read


Thoughts for Employers from the Supreme Court Affirmative Action Decision
The Supreme Court recently reversed the longstanding rule that race can be considered as a plus factor among many factors when making...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Jul 18, 20234 min read


NLRB Opens Second Front on Non-Compete Agreements
The NLRB has initiated a new effort to address non-compete agreements. The NLRB General Counsel has issued a policy memo expressing its...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Jul 4, 20234 min read


FTC Proposed Non-Compete Rule Update
The FTC’s proposed rule would effectively ban worker non-compete provisions by deeming them an unfair method of competition under the FTC...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Jun 27, 20233 min read


US Department of Labor Issues FMLA Interpretive Bulletin on Telework
The US Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a Field Assistance Bulletin (“FAB”) explaining how to apply the eligibility rules under the...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Jun 6, 20232 min read


Delaware Court Confirms Corporate Officers Owe the Same Fiduciary Duties as Directors
The Delaware Court of Chancery denied a motion to dismiss filed by a former employee of the former employer’s claims that he breached his...

Paul Peter Nicolai
May 30, 20231 min read


Workplace Antitrust - Increased Enforcement
Congress passed antitrust laws to counter monopoly control and prevent companies from acting in concert to control prices. The laws...

Paul Peter Nicolai
May 23, 20232 min read


$17 Billion in Damages for Fingerprinting Employees
The Illinois biometric privacy law says no private entity may collect, capture, purchase, receive through trade, or otherwise obtain a...

Paul Peter Nicolai
May 16, 20232 min read


COVID-19 Worker Compensation Denied
A registered nurse filed a Massachusetts worker's compensation claim for temporary total incapacity benefits saying she contracted...

Paul Peter Nicolai
May 2, 20231 min read


NLRB Imposes Restrictions on Severance Agreements
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that employers violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when they present...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Apr 25, 20233 min read


Burden of Proving Overtime Exemption Toughened
The US District Court gave an employer a summary judgment in an overtime case, concluding that the dispatchers and controllers fell...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Apr 18, 20231 min read


Right to Modify Employee Handbook Voids Arbitration
An employer who puts an arbitration agreement in an employee handbook cannot enforce it if it maintains the right to modify the handbook....

Paul Peter Nicolai
Mar 21, 20232 min read


Wage Act Damages & Fees
An employer failed to pay $8,952.15 in accrued vacation pay when it discharged an employee. It paid the accrued vacation pay three weeks...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Mar 7, 20231 min read


Mandatory Arbitration Nixed For Cases Involving Sexual Assault or Sexual Harassment
In March 2022, Congress passed a law that precludes employers from requiring employees to arbitrate disputes related to sexual assault or...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Jan 24, 20233 min read


Workplace Drug Policies and State Marijuana Laws
Over the last two decades, over two-thirds of the states have passed laws authorizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes by...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Jan 17, 20232 min read


Employer’s Secret Computer Search Is Unlawful Retaliation
A federal court of appeals has held that a forensic search of an employee’s work computer could constitute unlawful retaliation for an...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Nov 15, 20222 min read


Labor Antitrust Developments
Antitrust in labor markets is a hot topic for government, business, and labor. The antitrust enforcement agencies, consistent with...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Nov 8, 20221 min read


Garden Leave and Non-Compete Reform
In 2018, Massachusetts became the first state to provide for garden leave payments – payments to employees forced to sit out employment...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Oct 25, 202212 min read


Black Lives Matter Case Lost
Employees disciplined for wearing face masks bearing the phrase “Black Lives Matter” had their claims dismissed. The appeals court...

Paul Peter Nicolai
Oct 11, 20221 min read
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