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 # 96: Our company is considering requiring our existing and future employees to sign non-competition agreements. To make the agreements more palatable to our employees, we are considering linking the obligations imposed on the employees to an obligation on the company to compensate the employees if they cannot find suitable alternative non-competitive employment. We are planning to cap...
Quirky Question # 95: I read with interest your analyses of beards and facial jewelry in the context of religious discrimination claims. Maybe I’m beating this topical horse to death, but we’ve encountered a situation where an employee is claiming that his long hair is linked to his religious beliefs. He refuses to cut his hair despite our clear “grooming...
Quirky Question # 94: I own a company that manufactures boats. We fabricate fiberglass hulls in one facility and install motors, carpet, seats, steering, etc. in another facility a few miles away. I employ about 200 employees between the two sites. Three weeks ago, one of my major customers cancelled a large order. I haven’t told my employees yet, but...
CONTRASTS IN CLAIMS: EVALUATING EMOTIONAL DISTRESS—Part I—the “Eggshell Plaintiff” Barbara Long, M.D., Ph.D., A.B.P.N. Employment law Title VII claims often include allegations of significant emotional distress allegedly caused by reportedly inappropriate remarks, touches, and other behaviors in the workplace. When a supervisor, as opposed to a coworker, has been the alleged instigator of the reportedly offensive behavior, emotional distress claims...
Quirky Question # 93: I am the Chief Financial Officer of a public company. I recently learned that the Controller of our company has filed for personal bankruptcy. I don’t think that we should have someone in that position who has obviously been unable to handle her own finances – not only because she has access to the company’s finances,...
Quirky Question # 92: We have an employee who wears a nose ring. Because she interacts regularly with the public, and because we have a “no facial jewelry” policy, we asked her to remove the nose ring. She claims, however, that she wears the nose ring for “religious” reasons. We’ve asked her to inform us of the religion that requires...
Quirky Question #91: I own a company with a nationwide work force, and all of our employees work out of their homes. I am hearing rumors that these employees may try to organize a union. Is this possible? Aren’t unions for employees working at a single factor or facility? Once my employees are hired, we meet as a group only...
Dorsey’s Analysis of Changes to the Nation’s Employment Laws The advent of the Obama Administration is likely to result (and already has resulted) in sweeping changes to federal labor and employment laws and, accordingly, the relationship between employers and their employees. As we approach the 100th day of the new Administration, we have compiled a user-friendly summary guide to several...
U.S. Supreme Court Enforces Agreement Compelling Unionized Employees to Arbitrate Discrimination Claims Dorsey’s Analysis On April 1, 2009, an ideologically divided United States Supreme Court resolved a long-standing controversy regarding the arbitration of discrimination claims of union-represented employees. The Court’s decision in 14 Penn Plaza v. Byett resolved a split and an issue of confusion among lower courts, and the...
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...
