Real Life Employment Law
Nearly every day, executives and managers, and the in-house counsel and Human Resources professionals who work with them, are confronted with unanticipated questions regarding the workforce. Just when they think they have "seen it all," along comes a new and often stranger scenario involving an odd twist to an area they thought they fully understood. These individuals often find themselves back at square one when trying to construct an appropriate response and devise a creative solution to the problem presented. Sometimes these "Quirky Questions" can be resolved easily; other times, they implicate practical and legal issues that are not immediately apparent.
This Quirky Employment Questions Blog addresses unanticipated questions regarding the workforce.
We encourage you to submit your thoughts and reactions to the questions presented. We also encourage you to submit questions that you would like to see addressed, subject to these guidelines.
Stephen D. Bell
Michael Droke
Joseph W. Hammell
Sarah Andrews Herman
Ryan E. Mick
William J. Miller
Melissa Raphan
Gregory M. Saylin
Gabrielle Wirth
David C. SingerBLOG CONTACT INFO
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Minnesota is now the 23rd state (in addition to Washington D.C. and Guam) to legalize recreational marijuana in some form or another. Minnesota joins a growing list of states taking action on marijuana policy. With nearly half of the states now permitting adult-use of marijuana, what trends and laws should employers consider when revising or adopting drug testing policies? To...
What is the current Minnesota law regarding edible products containing THC? An inconsistency in two amended provisions of Minnesota Statute § 151.72 has resulted in what some have deemed the legislature “accidentally” legalizing edible products containing certain amounts of hemp-derived tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for purchasers 21 years of age and older. When did the new law take effect? The new law...
QUESTION: We conduct drug testing whenever an employee is injured at work or in involved in an accident. I recently read that this may violate OSHA’s anti-retaliation rule. How can that be? I would think OSHA would want employers to drug test to keep workplaces drug-free and safe.
Question: Our California company has a no smoking policy but had not thought to include a ban on e-cigarettes, as we had not experienced any problems with them at the workplace until now. A handful of our employees use e-cigarettes during work hours. A week ago, a supervisor informed HR that coworkers were concerned about the health effects of being...
Question: We are in the midst of preparing for our 2013 holiday party. We plan to schedule an evening event and intend to provide our employees and their guests with free food, entertainment, and alcohol; after all, we’ve worked hard all year and want to celebrate! How do we avoid risk while we host a fun party?
Question : One day during the lunch break, as I was heading to my car in the parking lot, I discovered two employees smoking what smelled like pot. I approached the employees and reprimanded them for engaging in illegal activities on the job, and told them that I would have them terminated. One of the employees, whose mother works at...
Question: We are a large company with operations in several states. Three of the states in which we operate permit medical marijuana use: California, Oregon, and Washington. One of our factory employees, working in an Oregon location, recently requested that we accommodate his medicinal use of marijuana. The employee claims that even if state medical marijuana law and discrimination law...
Question: Our company recently adopted a policy of not employing cigarette smokers. We decided to adopt the policy to (1) reduce health our care costs and (2) set a positive example given our business’s relation to health. We now have two problems. One applicant admitted that he smoked during his interview and we did not hire him. He now claims...
Quirky Question # 35: I am the HR Director for a large company with operations in Alaska. Our Alaska-based employees work on a rotating schedule of two weeks on / two weeks off. Many of these employees commute from the Outside (Lower 48) for their two-week rotations. During their rotation, these employees live in company provided housing and are transported...
Quirky Question # 21: We recently made a job offer to a gentleman as a lead systems administrator in the California division of our telecommunications company. As part of our routine pre-employment drug testing, he tested positive for marijuana. However, the applicant presented us with a doctor’s note allowing him to use “medical marijuana” for chronic back pain cause by...
Erica ChenErica is an associate in the Costa Mesa office of Dorsey & Whitney and a member of the firm’s Labor and Employ...
Jack SullivanJack is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employment group, where he focuses his practice on employment adv...
Ieva AubinAs an employment and business immigration attorney, ...
Michael DrokeMike started his career as a client, not a lawyer...
Matt DurhamMatt defends employers in Utah and throughout the ...
Aaron GoldsteinAaron is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employ...
Josh HughesJosh’s experience spans trial and appellate advoc...
Jillian KornblattJillian is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employ...
Laura LestradeLaura began practicing at Dorsey in 1992 and has s...
Ryan MickFor more than a decade, Ryan has counseled corpo...
Nick PappasNick litigates and counsels with respect to com...
Melissa RaphanMelissa is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor and Employ...
Gabrielle WirthEmployers turn to Gabrielle for guidance on how they...
