FHKAD attorneys Daniel T. Downey and Melanie J. Williamson won on a Motion to Dismiss filed in the Sixth Circuit on behalf of the City of Powell, Ohio. Center for Powell Crossing, et al. v. Brian Ebersole, 6th Cir. No. 16-3867, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11031 (June 16, 2017). The appellant in the case was [...]
Employers may want to think twice before relying on past practice as the basis for disciplinary action. In Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assn. v. Findlay, the Ohio Supreme Court concluded in its 6-1 decision that “[a]ny limitation on an arbitrator’s authority to modify a disciplinary action pursuant to a CBA provision requiring that discipline be imposed [...]
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed that AutoZone was not vicariously liable for a store manager’s sexual harassment of his co-workers. The Sixth Circuit also held that AutoZone established an affirmative defense to the claim. In EEOC v. AutoZone, Inc., it was alleged that AutoZone subjected female employees to [...]
In an 8-0 decision delivered by Justice Kennedy, the Supreme Court held that a North Carolina law banning registered sex offenders from accessing social-networking websites like Facebook and Twitter was a violation of the First Amendment. The statute at issue made it a felony offense for registered sex offenders to access a “commercial social networking” [...]
A disabled employee’s obligation to participate in identifying reasonable accommodations for her condition was recently highlighted in Brown v. Milwaukee Bd. of Sch. Dirs., a case out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Sherlyn Brown, an assistant principal, injured her knee while restraining a student. After undergoing surgery, Ms. Brown returned [...]
As 2016 was coming to a close, employers scrambled to comply with the Department of Labor’s Final Rule that was set to take effect on December 1, 2016 and more than double the threshold salary for employees to be exempt from overtime. The DOL intended to increase the minimum yearly salary level for overtime exemption [...]
The United States Supreme Court recently rejected an appeal seeking review of a ruling that job applicants cannot bring disparate impact claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). In Villarreal v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, et al., Mr. Villarreal, a 49 year old man, applied for a position with R.J. Reynolds. [...]
Since September 28, 2016, persons allegedly aggrieved by a violation of public records access can file a complaint under R.C. 2743.74 instead of initiating a mandamus action in common pleas court. While R.C. 2743.75 does not prescribe a standard of proof, the Court of Claims Special Masters and Judges seem to adopt to the “clear [...]
As part of the recently passed State Budget Bill, employers could soon face civil liability for violating R.C. § 2923.1210(A), the CCW law passed last year that allows individuals to store firearms in their privately-owned vehicles on employer property. That law has been in effect since March 2017, but an amendment in the Budget Bill [...]
In the latest bid to make Ohio a “Right-to-Work” state, the House introduced a bill that would eliminate any requirement that public employees must join or pay dues to any employee organization. Public employees are not currently required to join any employee organization under state law. However, under the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Law, collective [...]