Employer Law Blog

Last month, the Northern District of Illinois recently ruled in Isbell v. John Crane, Inc., that an Employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA” or “the Act”) when it unilaterally changed an Employee’s later start time as an accommodation for her difficulty functioning in early morning. For two years, the Employer granted the Employee a later start time to accommodate for her difficulty being able to work effectively until the Employee’s medication had an opportunity to take effect. The Employee was diagnosed with attention deficit and bipolar disorders.

The EEOC recently announced an increase in the penalty for employers who fail to conspicuously post the equal employment opportunity (EEO) notices of rights of employees and job applicants. The penalty per violation has almost doubled as of April 18, 2014, from $110 to $210.

In settling an existing charge of discrimination, administrative complaint or lawsuit, employers, upon advice of counsel, routinely obtain a release of all claims from the employee. This includes releasing any claims already asserted and any other potential claims the employee could assert in the future. Employers also utilize severance agreements as a means of minimizing litigation by obtaining a release of all claims from a departing employee when offering severance to the employee.

Can an employer require an employee who is initiating a workers’ compensation claim to take a drug test?

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) started 2014 by capitulating on its efforts to force employers to post a notice at work which advised employees how they could form a union in order to collectively bargain. The NLRB announced this mandatory posting rule in August 2011, which would have required all private sector employers, whether unionized or not, to conspicuously post an 11x17 notice at work that outlined a number of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). While the new posting obligation was originally scheduled to take effect in November 2011, a number of legal challenges were filed which delayed enforcement of this posting obligation.