“Cat’s paw” refers to a situation where a subordinate supervisor (or in some instances a coworker) lacking decision-making power dupes the decision-making manager into making an adverse employment decision, typically to terminate an employee. In this situation, the...
Year: 2017
Seventh Circuit Court Of Appeals Holds Sexual Orientation Discrimination Is A Form Of Sex Discrimination
On November 14, 2016, we reported that a federal court in Pennsylvania had just ruled that Title VII prohibits sexual orientation discrimination. Sexual orientation discrimination, and LGBT rights in general, has been a hot topic in recent years. However, until our...
Written Job Description Is Only One Factor Of Determining Essential Job Functions In Cases Under The Americans With Disabilities Act
In Bush v. Compass Group USA, Inc., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (covering Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee) recently affirmed summary judgment dismissing an employee’s disability discrimination claim. Donald Bush worked for the Compass Group as a chef...
College Athletes May Have Federal Employment Rights
Professional athletes are among the highest paid employees in any occupation and enjoy substantial benefits and union protection under the terms of their employment contracts. In contrast, college athletes are, as a rule, unpaid (though many receive scholarships to...
Court Of Appeals Upholds Termination Of At-Will Employee And Denies Existence Of Alleged Verbal Contract
In the case of Nichol v. Am. Health Network, 2016-Ohio-8346, the Tenth District Court of Appeals recently affirmed the trial court’s dismissal on summary judgment of a former employee’s claims of breach of contract and tortious interference. Allen Nichol, a...
Facebook Sued For Alleged Race Discrimination
On November 22, 2016, a federal lawsuit was filed against Facebook alleging race discrimination. In Robert Baron Duffy, et al. v. Facebook, Inc., et al., 5:16-cv-6764 (N.D. Cal.), Robert Baron Duffy , a former African-American employee, and Robert Louis Gary, a...