Insights

June 17, 2022
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Seventh Circuit Gives Broad Interpretation to FMLA’s Interference Prohibition

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled recently that an employer can unlawfully interfere with an employee’s rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by merely discouraging the person from requesting leave, regardless of whether the request is actually denied. Although the ruling doesn’t break any new legal ground – it is consistent with the...
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June 17, 2022
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

GAO Issues Report Concluding OFCCP Can Do a Better Job on Its VEVRAA Oversight

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the research arm of the U.S. Congress, has issued a report concluding that the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) isn’t doing enough to help federal contractors comply with their affirmative action obligations for veterans protected under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA). The 45-page report, entitled “Equal Employment...
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June 17, 2022
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Category: Agency Enforcement

EEOC Releases New Studies Highlighting Success of Agency’s Online Mediation Program

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has made public two new studies prepared by independent researchers showing that the agency’s shift to virtual or remote mediation, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been a success. In fact, the reports indicate that the EEOC’s online dispute resolution is, in some respects, even more popular than the agency’s traditional mediation program. Members...
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June 17, 2022
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Category: Labor Relations

Third Circuit Rules “Politically-Motivated Busybody” Can Bring a Valid NLRB Charge

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently confirmed that a person who has no connection to employees who are allegedly harmed by an unfair labor practice can nevertheless bring a valid charge before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board), and that the Board has the discretion to investigate the charge. The ruling by the appeals...
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June 10, 2022
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Submits FAAP Directive to OMB for Approval, With Minor Improvements

As anticipated, the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has submitted a formal request to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval of a revised agency directive that would extend OFCCP’s functional affirmative action program (FAAP) process for several more years. The version of the FAAP Directive sent to OMB for approval does...
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June 10, 2022
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

Third Circuit Religious Accommodation Ruling Sets Up Potential Supreme Court Review

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in a 2 – 1 panel decision, has ruled that an employee’s religious accommodation request to refrain from working on Sundays would impose an undue hardship on one of the nation’s largest employers, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Key to the court’s analysis was the likely impact the requested accommodation would...
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June 10, 2022
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Category: Immigration

OFCCP Now Saying That Small AAPs Must Be Added to AAP-VI

NT Lakis, on behalf of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), has filed written comments with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in support of the agency’s proposed changes to the “Form I-9.” Our comments argue that the proposed changes should streamline the I-9 process as well as lessen paperwork burdens for employers. Our comments also urge USCIS, as part...
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June 10, 2022
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Category: Arbitration and Dispute Resolution

Supreme Court Provides Guidance on Scope of FAA’s Transportation Worker Exemption

Over the last two decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) establishes a public policy favoring arbitration of disputes in lieu of litigation. There is one part of the FAA, however, that exempts certain workers “engaged in foreign or interstate commerce,” thus permitting these workers to sue in court. In recent years,...
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June 10, 2022
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Karla Gilbride Tapped To Be EEOC’s New General Counsel

The White House announced last week that President Biden intends to nominate plaintiffs’ lawyer and employment arbitration opponent Karla Gilbride to serve as the new General Counsel (GC) of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission), a position that has been vacant since Biden fired former General Counsel Sharon Fast Gustafson fifteen months ago. Ms. Gilbride currently is...
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June 03, 2022
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Now Saying That Small AAPs Must Be Added to AAP-VI

In an unexpected and frankly disturbing new development, especially in light of its timing and earlier agency guidance, the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced late last week that establishments with fewer than 50 employees must be added to the agency’s online Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI) Contractor Portal, if the contractor maintains an affirmative...
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