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A federal district court recently sanctioned Walmart for “spoliation of evidence” in an employment litigation case. Although Walmart has asked the Court to reconsider its decision or allow it to appeal the decision to the appellate court, there’s an important lesson to be learned regardless of the outcome: Mind Your Rs & Ds. In other words, pay attention to your company’s retention and destruction of, well, everything employment-related, particularly if there is reason to suspect that litigation is a possibility.
Continue Reading A Game-Changing Misstep for Walmart?

In response to President Obama’s Executive Order earlier this year, the Department of Labor has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish standards and procedures for raising the minimum wage paid to employees of federal construction and service contractors to $10.10 per hour beginning January 1, 2015 and then increased on a yearly basis beginning January 1, 2016. Federal contractors have until July 17, 2014 to comment on the proposed regulations that could have a large impact on contractors’ operations.
Continue Reading Department of Labor Announces Proposed Rules to Raise the Minimum Wage for Federal Contract Workers; Federal Contractors Should Consider Making Their Voice Heard During the Notice and Comment Period

In light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in United States v. Windsor, the U.S. Department of Labor has just issued updated guidance for employers concerning the rights of same-sex spouses under the Family and Medical Leave Act. As you may recall from our earlier blog post on the legal implications of the Windsor case, in a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage under federal law as “a legal union only between one man and one woman as husband and wife.”…
Continue Reading DOL Issues Clarification of FMLA Rights for Same-Sex Spouses

During his recent State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama confirmed the news that some employers feared. During his address, President Obama stated that the Civil Rights Division (CRD) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) will begin aggressively pursuing employment discrimination claims. The President’s statement reiterated the CRD’s December 2009 message to Congress…