Negative remarks about a worker being “insecure”, “fragile”, or “immature” are gender neutral comments that do not form the basis to support a valid gender employment discrimination claim under federal law. This issue was addressed in the April 10, 2012 United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Decision of Myrta Morales-Cruz v. University of Puerto Rico School of…
If an employee is discriminated against, paid less than what she is due in compensation, or has other adverse employment actions taken against her, the remedy does not always have to be sought solely against the entity that is the payor on her pay check. Both the legislative and judicial branches of the federal and state government have recognized that…
In October I authored an article herein discussing the John Balsamo v. University Systems of New Hampshire (hereinafter “UNH”) case in which the Court had dismissed some of the claims by Mr. Balsamo including the claims against individuals at UNH involved in the firing of Mr. Balsamo. As that time, the Court stated it would consider the remaining claim of…
If an employee works in Massachusetts and has not been paid employment compensation owed to him; whether it be salary, hourly wage, commission, or accrued but unused vacation from an employer who has fired him, laid him off, or from whom he has resigned, the employee may be entitled to relief under the Massachusetts Payment of Wages Act. That Act…
Absent a contract or a statutory right, an employee’s employment is at will and can be terminated without notice and with or without cause. However, if a fired employee can establish that his termination was motivated by bad faith, retaliation, or malice and that he was terminated for performing an act that public policy would encourage or for refusing to…
Under the American with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), employees are protected from discrimination based upon a disability. A disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the individual’s major activities. It could also be a record of such an impairment or being regarded as having such an impairment. Just having a physical or mental impairment…
An employee who has the responsibility of terminating the employment of a subordinate rarely can be held legally liable to the terminated employee. This issue was addressed in the September 30, 2011 decision of the New Hampshire federal court in John Balsamo v. UNH. John Balsamo (hereinafter “Balsamo”) began working at UNH as a general maintenance technician in August 2006.…
In order to protect an employer’s confidential information and good will, it may have certain employees sign a non-competition and non-solicitation agreement. These agreements in addition to prohibiting former employees from using confidential information will, for a time period usually ranging between six months to two years after the employment ceases, prohibit the former employee from either competing with the…
Balancing the safety of impaired employees with providing reasonable accommodations under disability employment law can be difficult for employers as illustrated in the Massachusetts court case of Nicole Cyr v. United Parcel Service. In that case on June 16, 2011, the federal trial judge denied summary judgment for UPS finding as triable issues whether Cyr was discriminated against based upon…
Employers generally cannot prohibit employees from discussing their wages and benefits among themselves or with current or potential union representatives. This is the case even if the employer is not a union shop. This point was the subject of a decision from the First Circuit Court of Appeals on June 22, 2011 in the case of National Labor Relations Board…