The Library

This article appeared in the Winter/Spring 2013 issue of “Virginia Human Resources Today” magazine. Your CEO tells you that she wants a strong “confidentiality” policy in the Employee Handbook. You update your Company’s policy intending to safeguard the Company’s “confidential” information. But, here’s the catch — if your policy as written would lead an employee to believe that he is not free to discuss his wages or working conditions with coworkers or outsiders, the NLRB will likely conclude it is unlawful! In Flex Frac Logistics, LLC, 358 NLRB No.127 (Sept. 11, 2012), a non-union company had all employees sign an […]

Before January 1, 2013, employers must provide the new Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Summary of Rights to individuals before taking any adverse employment action based on the contents of a background report obtained from a third party. The good news is that the procedural requirements under the FCRA are the same – the only change is the updated Summary of Rights, which can be found here. The most significant revision is that the Summary of Rights now directs contacts to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is the federal agency now responsible for interpreting the FCRA. Employers […]

Businesses routinely conduct investigations into workplace misconduct and other incidents. In most investigations, the individuals interviewed and the person who brought the complaint are directed not to discuss the investigation with others. Plenty of good reasons exist for this practice, which many HR professionals believe is a “best practice.” In two very recent actions, this practice has been attacked by the government and found to be unlawful. While no court has upheld this challenge to the standard confidentiality approach to workplace investigations, these recent actions suggest that employers should evaluate their current practices going forward. On July 30, 2012, the […]

This article first appeared in Staffing Industry Analysts’ online publication, “The Staffing Stream.” This and other articles are available at the link below. It seems like every week there is some decision, guidance or policy change that alters companies’ ability to transact business. Whether it’s the courts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the National Labor Relations Board, the employment law landscape is constantly changing. In July, Randstad suffered a blow as did all of staffing companies that have multiple offices and place a significant number of temporary employees. These staffing firms are the unfortunate recipients of an EEOC Charge. […]

There was recently an employment discrimination case in Roanoke that provides a valuable lesson to HR professionals. Here are the key facts: Manager supervises an employee whose job performance is deemed to be deficient. He drafts proposed written warning, and emails it to HR for review. Employee belongs to protected class (e.g., race, age, gender, disability) and/or there is a reason for the company to exercise caution before implementing any disciplinary action against employee (e.g., lengthy service; employee has exercised rights–complained, taken FMLA leave; good performance reviews). HR edits the proposed warning, and sends e-mail to manager with comments. Company […]

This article was published on “The Staffing Stream,” an online blog sponsored by Staffing Industry Analysts. To read this article and more on their site, click the link offered below the article. Who’s the boss? And who is liable in the event there is an issue? Employers and courts have been mulling through this problem. However it all comes down to the control that the employer has over its workers. Last month, the need for some type of written agreement between customers and their staffing vendors defining their relationship may have just become clearer when the U.S. Court of Appeals […]

This article appeared in the Summer/Fall 2012 issue of “Virginia Human Resources Today” magazine. Are you aware of the dramatic developments within the last year as a result of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (“ADAAA”)? If not, read on! In amending the ADA, Congress expressed its view that the definition as to whether a person was “disabled” was being interpreted too narrowly and that persons with impairments such as cancer, diabetes and epilepsy, to name a few, were being improperly denied protection under the law. The ADAAA states that the definition of disability should be interpreted broadly in favor […]

This article, written by Virginia attorney David N. Cohan, was originally published in the Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal and is reprinted with permission of Aspen Publishers. To read the article as published, click here or via the link under Additional Reading.

This article was co-authored by Gentry Locke attorney Travis Graham, and in 2009 was published in Virginia Lawyer Magazine. To download the article from the VSB site in PDF format, click here. It has been a long time since we’ve been wrong about anything. It has been even longer since we were incorrect, and together we cannot remember the last time that we misread a case. This is not to say that either of us is especially smart or perceptive. It’s just that, over the past few years, we’ve noticed a trend in the language we see in briefs and pleadings. […]