Since its 1994, decision in Troupe v. May Department Stores Co., 20 F.3d 734 (7th Cir. 1994), the Seventh Circuit has instructed the district courts within its boundaries (including those in Illinois) to look for evidence that creates “a convincing mosaic of discrimination” in considering summary judgment motions in employment discrimination cases.  After more than a decade of inconsistencies and criticisms of this approach, the Seventh Circuit has now abandoned this approach with its decision in the case Ortiz v. Werner Enterprises, Inc., decided August 19, 2016.  The Seventh Circuit ruled that the sole test that should be applied in considering summary judgment motions in employment discrimination cases, “is simply whether the evidence would permit a reasonable fact finder to conclude that the Plaintiff’s race, ethnicity, sex, religion or other prescribed factor caused the discharge or other adverse employment action.”  The Seventh Circuit’s ruling appears to be an attempt to bring some certainty to the summary judgment process in employment discrimination claims by abandoning the vague and inconsistent “convincing mosaic” approach.

Werner Enterprises is a shipping company that provides freight brokerage services to its customers.  Brokers for Werner would be responsible for finding a carrier for any customer’s load and then putting that shipment into the proprietary system maintained by Werner.  Brokers were compensated through a base salary but would also earn a commission if they could generate a profit for Werner, i.e., locating carriers for the load who would charge less than Werner would charge the customer for moving the freight.

Read the rest of this article at the HRUSA blog here: http://blog.hrusa.com/blog/convincing-mosaic-not-required-in-7th-circuit/

Vida Thomas will be speaking at San Joaquin Society for Human Resources Management’s Employment Legislative Update 2017  on Wednesday, January 11, 2017.   For more information on this seminar, please visit http://www.sjhra.org/event/employment-legislative-update-2017-half-day-seminar/.   Please note that Weintraub Tobin’s clients will receive a discounted rate and limited seats are available.  To register for this seminar, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/employment-legislative-update-2017-a-half-day-seminar-tickets-28660308755.

Vida serves as Of Counsel to the Firm’s Labor and Employment Group. As an AV-rated attorney who has practiced employment law for over 20 years, she heads up the Firm’s workplace investigations unit. For more information on Vida and her practice, please visit her attorney bio at http://www.weintraub.com/attorneys/vida-l-thomas

The National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) recently created another potential pitfall for employers who misclassify employees as independent contractors.  Most employers know that, if they misclassify an employee as an independent contractor, they may be subjected to fines, penalties and other types of liability.  Such employers also can be sued by the misclassified employee and potentially liable for unpaid overtime wages (among other things).  Additionally, taxing authorities may seek from the employer withholdings that should have been, but were not, applied.

To read the rest of this blog, visit the HRUSA blog at http://blog.hrusa.com/blog/more-pitfalls-for-misclassifying-employees/.

To learn more about Brendan J. Begley and his practice, visit his attorney bio at http://www.weintraub.com/attorneys/brendan-j-begley.

Summary of Program

The Labor and Employment Group at Weintraub Tobin is pleased to offer this very informative training session that will help business owners, human resource professionals, and managers to both comply with legal record keeping requirements and also prepare and maintain effective defensive documentation.

Most business owners know that customers and employees may need to be accommodated from time to time for various reasons. Often this is because of an employee’s disability, medical condition or a condition present on property owned by the business and open to the public. It is important for business owners and employers to understand and comply with how the courts and various federal and state regulatory agencies define accommodations, as well as learn what their rights and obligations are regarding: (1) engaging in the interactive process; (2) providing reasonable accommodations; and (3) removing barriers to access.

Program Highlights

This informative seminar will provide an overview of the many accommodations business owners, employers and Human Resources professionals may be forced to consider, who should be accommodated, and how to engage in an interactive process to determine an appropriate accommodation. Topics will include:

  • How to Determine Who is Entitled to an Accommodation
  • How to Engage in the Interactive Process and How to Know When to Initiate the Initial discussion
  • The Various Protected Classes and/or Activities Entitling an Employee to Accommodation (including things like disability, religion, and illiteracy, to name a few)
  • Service Animals in the Workplace
  • How to Effectively Document the Accommodation
  • Recent Developments in Accommodation Law
  • A primer on Title III “Public Accommodation” Liability
  • Disabled Access Cases
    • ADA Mills Are Still Active
    • How Alterations to Your Property May Affect Your Obligations Under the ADA
    • It’s Not Just the ADA

Date:  November 17, 2016
Time:  9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Seminar

8:30 am – 9:00 am  – Registration & Breakfast

9:00 am – 12:00 am  – Seminar

Webinar: This seminar is also available via webinar. Please indicate in your RSVP if you will be attending via webinar.

Location

Weintraub Tobin

400 Capitol Mall, 11th Floor | Sacramento, CA 95814

Parking validation provided. Please park in the Wells Fargo parking garage, entrances on 4th and 5th Street.  Please bring your parking ticket with you to the 11th floor.
Approved for three (3) hours MCLE.   This program will be submitted to the HR Certification Institute for review. Certificates will be provided upon verification of attendance for the entirety of the webcast.

There is no cost for this seminar. 
*This seminar will be limited to 75 in-person attendees.  

To RSVP for this event, please visit our events page here: http://www.weintraub.com/category/events or RSVP by e-mailing Ramona Carrillo at rcarrillo@weintraub.com.

As we continue marching toward D-day on the Department of Labor’s new overtime rules kicking in, the rules are facing last minute challenges from all angles.  First, states and private businesses pushed back.  In late September, 21 states jointly filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas asking that the court block the DOL from implementing the rules.  The same day, a group of over 50 businesses jointly filed a similar lawsuit of their own in the same court.  A week later, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would push the rules’ start date out another six months, from December 1, 2016 to June 1, 2017.

The New Exempt Requirements

Under the new DOL rules, the minimum salary threshold for “white collar” exempt employees will effectively double.  Effective December 1, 2016, employees will have to earn $955 per week, which translates to $47,476 annually, to be properly classified as exempt.  In addition to doubling the salary threshold on the white collar exemptions, the new law will increase the salary necessary to retain the “highly compensated employee” exemption.  The HCE exemption currently applies to employees who earn at least $100,000 annually and “customarily and regularly” perform one or more of the exempt duties performed by employees who qualify for one of the white collar exemptions.  Under the new law, these same employees will need to earn at least $134,004 annually.

To account for inflation and cost-of-living increases, the new law also establishes a mechanism for automatically updating the salary and compensation levels described above every three years.

To read the rest of this article, please visit the HRUSA blog here: http://blog.hrusa.com/blog/states-and-congress-challenge-new-overtime-rules/