Labor & Employment Law Update

Claims of negligent hiring, training, and retention is alive and well. Employers must be prepared to investigate, and fully remediate supervisors’ misconduct.

Recently, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana) held that an employer may be liable for intentional acts committed by supervisory employees against other employees outside of work if the employer has been negligent. The tragic case, Anicich v. Home Depot USA, Inc., 852 F. 3d 643 (7th Cir. 2017), arose from the death and rape of a pregnant employee at the hands of her supervisor.

On July 14, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited a contractor for 10 serious violations after the deaths of three workers who succumbed to toxic gases in a manhole on January 16, 2017.

Preventable safety failures led to the deaths of Elway Gray, a 34-year-old pipe layer, who entered the manhole – a confined space – and quickly became unresponsive; Louis O’Keefe, a 49-year-old laborer, who entered the hole in an attempt to rescue Gray; and Robert Wilson, a 24-year-old equipment operator, who followed to rescue his two fallen ...

On July 12, 2017, a three judge panel in the seventh circuit unanimously affirmed District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller’s ruling dismissing a lawsuit filed by two International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) locals that challenged the validity of Wisconsin’s right-to-work law. Judge Stadtmueller’s dismissal in September 2016 was based on the seventh circuit Sweeney v. Pence 2014 decision that upheld Indiana’s “nearly identical” law.

The Wisconsin law provides that “no person may require, as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment, an ...

On July 17, 2017, the United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the release of a new version of the Form I-9, version 07/17/17 N.  This new version of the Form I-9 does not have sweeping substantive changes like the current form issued in November 2016. In fact, the changes are primarily re-naming and re-numbering.

The one key thing employers must be aware of is that the issuance of the new version of the Form I-9 impacts what version an employer may use going forward. According to the USCIS press release, until September 17, 2017, employers can use either: (1) Form ...

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a qualified individual on the basis of disability, and this includes not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual. A qualified individual is a person with a disability who can perform the essential functions on the job with or without a reasonable accommodation. A reasonable accommodation includes making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to individuals with disabilities. If an ...

The seventh circuit recently clarified under what circumstance a collective bargaining agreement may restrict an employee’s access to a judicial forum for purposes of resolving statutory claims. In Vega v. New Forest Home Cemetery, the appellate court reversed the lower court’s dismissal of a Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) claim brought by a former employee who had not complied with the grievance process provided in his collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Luis Vega filed an FLSA lawsuit claiming New Forest failed to pay him for 54 hours of work. Vega was a union member ...

As part of what is certain to be an evolving area of the law, the Staff of the Cook County Commission on Human Rights has issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to the new Cook County Earned Sick Leave Ordinance (effective 7/1/17).  These FAQs (which may be updated from time to time), as well as the Cook County Earned Sick Leave Rules (“Rules”), are available for download from the Cook County Website.

In reviewing the Cook County FAQs, it is important to note their opening disclaimer, which essentially states that the FAQs are not legal advice, do not have the force of ...

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens recently signed into law changes to the Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA), bringing it in line with federal employment law standards. The changes take effect August 28, 2017.

The most significant change is the return of the motivating factor standard to Missouri discrimination claims. Prior to 2007, MHRA claims, like federal claims, were analyzed to determine whether a protected characteristic “motivated” the challenged employment decision. In 2007 the Missouri Supreme Court, relying on MHRA’s definition of “discrimination” as well ...