Are you an employer and finding yourself lost in the sea of confusing and complicated recent COVID-19 regulations? On February 18th, 2021, attorneys from Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP presented a webinar which covered what to do if an employee tests positive or has been exposed to COVID-19, the steps employers should take to investigate and address any COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in (and outside)…
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As COVID-19 cases surge, doses of emergency-approved vaccinations begin to be administered to first responders and the availability of a vaccine for the greater public seems more promising, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued its highly anticipated guidance regarding employer-mandated COVID-19 vaccines. Under EEOC Guidance, Employers May Generally Require Employees to Receive a…
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On Wednesday, July 8, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated ruling deciding that teachers at religious schools could not claim protections under anti-discrimination laws. The central issue in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru concerned the scope of the “ministerial exception”—a legal doctrine grounded in the First Amendment fashioned to protect a religious…
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WORDS MATTER: U.S. Supreme Court Holds Title VII And The Prohibition Of Discrimination “On The Basis Of Sex” Protects LGBTQ Workers “Sometimes small gestures can have unexpected consequences. Major initiatives practically guarantee them.” With those two sentences, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch launched into an opinion that few anticipated, though which in retrospect…
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided yesterday in Bethany College that it does not have jurisdiction over faculty at religious schools and colleges, overruling a 2014 decision which held the opposite. Click here to download the NLRB decision. The NLRB will decline jurisdiction over labor union election petitions and unfair labor practice claims if…
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2019 California Legislative Update For Employers It’s been a busy session for the California Legislature, passing multiple employment-related bills that Governor Newsom has signed or that are awaiting his signature. The Governor has until October 13 to sign the pending bills. Below is a topline summary of important bills, some of which will or could…
Read More ›Can a religious preference belief ever support a defense to anti-discrimination laws? That was the question the U.S. Supreme Court faced and avoided in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission earlier today. The issue revolved around a cake shop whose devout Christian owners refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple…
Read More ›In a near-unanimous 7-page opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court held that employers need not have “actual knowledge” that an employee is requesting a modification of his position for religious purposes in order to be required to reasonably accommodate that request. While the decision in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. was…
Read More ›Vaccines for children have been front-page news around the country after the breakout of measles at Disneyland. Rightfully, the focus has been on children who are unvaccinated and the effect that it has on schools and places of public accommodation. But, what about unvaccinated adults? Can an employer require that its employees are vaccinated?
Read More ›Last year, we reported on a decision from a federal judge in San Francisco granting summary judgment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a case brought on behalf of a former Abercrombie & Fitch employee who was fired for wearing a hijab (a Muslim headdress for women) at work. The judge in that…
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