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
In Quirky Question #244, we discussed what employers should do to protect their employees and businesses in light of the potential Ebola threat. Last week, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered nearly 700 Minnesota National Guard members to deploy to Liberia this spring to help fight the Ebola epidemic. The citizen-soldiers are scheduled to start training in March with an estimated six-month...
Question: The recent media coverage of Ebola has been overwhelming. As an employer, I want to be prepared and proactive to protect our employees and our business, but I also don’t want to overreact to what is seemingly a very small threat. What steps can, and should, I take to protect my employees? Does Ebola potentially implicate any state or...
Question: We are a medium-sized Minnesota employer. Our lead accountant recently spoke with our Director of Human Resources and requested to work from home several days a week due to a medical condition. We believe his condition is serious, but think we can figure out a way for him to continue in his current role. That said, we think the...
Question: We are a large Minnesota employer and we have a non-exempt employee who is asking for breaks to express her breast milk multiple times every day, and each break takes a long time. We let her do so in her office, and she tapes a “not available” note across the window on her office door, but the door doesn’t...
Question: We are in Montana and a very obese woman recently applied for a manager position. The position is more physical than most in that there is significant walking between facilities, and the candidate must climb ladders to view the product line in the manufacturing facility. We declined to hire this candidate because we did not think she could safely...
Question: We have employees in California, Washington and Utah where I understand there may be separate statutes protecting pregnancy disability leave and requiring up to sixteen (16) weeks of protected leave (as opposed to twelve (12) under FMLA). We terminated an employee in California for not returning after her sixteen (16) week leave and she is threatening to sue. Aren’t...
Question: An employee experienced complications with her pregnancy toward the end of her second trimester. As a result of these complications, her physician placed her on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. If she carries the baby to term, this employee will exhaust her Family and Medical Leave Act leave by the time of the birth. Are we...
Question: My company is a firm believer in rewarding good behavior as opposed to punishing bad behavior. Along those lines, we give bonuses to employees who maintain perfect attendance over the course of a year. For employees who do have absences, we apply a “no-fault” system that grants employees a set number of days that can be missed each year...
It is difficult to predict the long-term ramifications of the Supreme Court’s decision, particularly since, as addressed below, the Supreme Court qualified its opinion somewhat and declined to make broad pronouncements. Notwithstanding these facts, and despite the somewhat limited application of the opinion, we thought you might be interested in reading about the Supreme Court’s analysis of the way in which the nation’s...
Question: One of our employees has been out of work on a disability. We’ve accommodated her by letting her take a prolonged leave of absence. During this time, she also has been availing herself of both our Short-Term Disability (STD) and Long-Term Disability (LTD) policies. She’s been out of work for a full year. We’ve periodically conducted internal reviews to...
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...
