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
E: Wirth.Gabrielle@dorsey.com
P: 714.800.1455
Quirky Question # 100: We have an employee who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is under the care of a psychiatrist through the Veterans Administration and takes medication for this condition. He also chews tobacco at work. There have been a number of employee complaints about the disgusting nature of the tobacco habit. The employee claims that his psychiatrist...
Analysis of the Crawford Decision On January 26, 2009, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, No. 06-1595 (Argued October 8, 2008; decided January 26, 2009). The Supreme Court unanimously held that the anti-retaliation provision of Title VII reached an employee who “speaks out about discrimination not on...
Quirky Question # 68: We recently filled a position with a highly qualified applicant. After we made him an offer, he informed us that he soon would be undergoing a sex change operation. He said that when he started the job, he would be a male, but within a month or two, his operation would be complete and he would...
Quirky Question # 65: Our company has made concerted efforts to encourage our employees to report incidents of possible discrimination. Our HR Department is responsible for receiving and investigating discrimination complaints. Through our internal investigation efforts, we have been able to head off possible litigation and address potentially serious problems. On the flip side, however, the internal investigation process has...
Quirky Question # 62: Your pending question regarding the “temporal proximity” required for retaliation claims is interesting. I have a slightly different question, also involving retaliation claims. What is the scope of the protections provided by retaliation provisions. For example, if one member of a couple, both of whom worked for us, sues us for discrimination in connection with her...
Quirky Question # 61: I am the General Counsel of a small company. As our company’s only attorney, I have to provide expertise in a wide variety of substantive areas. In connection with retaliation claims, I occasionally hear about “temporal proximity.” When I’m advising my clients, I’d like to be able to provide them some clear guidance regarding the length...
Quirky Question # 50: We are a small to mid-size company, with a relatively small legal department. We have a General Counsel. He, in turn, supervises two other attorneys. The General Counsel joined our company about two years ago, and frankly, his relationship with C-level executives has not been ideal. His relationship with the CEO has been particularly strained. The...
Quirky Question # 39: I am the operations manager for a food distributor. One of our other managers, a long-term employee, was recently demoted to a position that places him in frequent contact with our customers. He was unhappy about that demotion and has filed a charge of age discrimination with the EEOC. One of our customers has now called...
Quirky Question # 34: We continue to confront periodically lawsuits from former employees that are utterly frivolous. Some of the claims make you shake your head in disbelief. We’d like to file malicious prosecution lawsuits against the individuals who file these bogus claims. Are there any downsides to this approach? Could someone argue that the lawsuits we are contemplating are...
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...
