June, 2009

Discarding Test Results Due to Racial Disparity Violated Title VII

Throwing out test results because too few minorities passed denied white firefighters promotions on the basis of their race, a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Supreme Court held June 29.

Self-insured Employers May Tap Excess WC Fund

Self-insured employers under Nevada's Workers' Compensation Act can seek reimbursement from the Nevada Insurance Guaranty Association (NIGA) for amounts that their insolvent excess insurance carrier should have paid, the full Nevada Supreme Court ruled on June 25.

Blogging Teacher's Rights Not Violated, Appeals Court Rules

A public school teacher's transfer to a classroom position, on the ground that her personal blog entries had made it impossible for her to form trusting relationships with her colleagues in her old position as an instructional coach, did not violate her constitutional rights, the 9th Circuit U.

Inconsistent Testimony Suggests USERRA Violation

Inconsistency in the testimony of an employer’s managerial staff suggested that the real reason for not rehiring a former employee was discrimination under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, a federal district court ruled, refusing to grant the employer summary judgment.

Public Comment Sought on E-Verify Outsourcing to Designated Agents

U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is seeking public comment on the E-Verify Program Designated Agent Process under which a participating employer may choose to outsource submission of employment eligibility verification queries for newly hired employees to a Designated Agent, the agency announced in the June 23 Federal Register.

Age Must Be Sole Reason for ADEA Violation, U.S. Supreme Court Holds

Plaintiffs in age discrimination cases must show that age was the only reason for the challenged employment action, not simply that age was one of many reasons, a divided U. S. Supreme Court ruled on June 18.

Off-site Work Doesn't Get Prevailing Wage, Ohio Supreme Court Rules

Ohio's "prevailing wage" statute applies only to persons whose work is performed directly on the site of a public improvement project, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled on June 17. The case is Sheet Metal Workers' Internatl.

Federal Employees' Domestic Partners Eligible for Some Benefits

A limited number of benefits available to federal employees are now available to their same-sex domestic partners, under a presidential memorandum President Obama signed June 17. The memorandum comes after a review by Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag regarding what benefits could be offered to federal employees' domestic partners without violating existing federal law.

EEOC Approves Proposed ADA Regulations

Proposed rules that will implement the ADA Amendments Act have been approved by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Notably, the commission added a list of "certain impairments that will obviously be substantially limiting.

Senators Seek to Widen FLSA Coverage for Domestic Companions

Regulations defining the Fair Labor Standards Act's "companionship services" exemption are once again being challenged, two years after the U. S. Supreme Court ended a face-off between the 2nd U.