Insights

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 29, 2002, that the ADA does not pre-empt employers’ seniority systems. US Airways, Inc. v. Barnett, 00-1250, 535 U.S. __ (2002). Thus, an employer is not ordinarily required to...

On April 1, 2002, just eleven days after hearing oral argument in an age discrimination case that had the potential to resolve a split among the federal appeals courts on an important issue of age discrimination, the U.S....

California’s Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1786 (the “Act”) was recently amended in ways that will prove far more onerous to California employers than the old law. These...

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) prohibits employers from discriminating against employees who are age forty and over. The statute provides that if a jury finds an employer willfully violated...

In a unanimous opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court has adopted a narrow definition of “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. and, in so doing, has...

Mistake No. 1: Failing to retain relevant records and to provide accurate facts in the course of an administrative agency’s investigation Byrnie v. Town of Cromwell, Bd. of Educ., 243 F.3d 92 (2d Cir. 2001) Plaintiff,...

Employers spent millions of dollars in 2001 defending class action discrimination cases, and some employers spent millions more settling such cases. What is a class action? A class action lawsuit enables one or more members...

During the year 2001, several pieces of significant legislation were enacted in California that effectively expand employee rights and legal protections. Recent legislation also requires California employers to post new...

In 2000, New York City enacted the Gender-Motivated Violence Act (“GMVA”), N.Y.C. Code § 8-101, et seq. The GMVA went into effect on December 19, 2000. While the GMVA has now been in effect for a year, it has...

In Burlington Industries v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998) and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998) the United States Supreme Court outlined an affirmative defense available to an employer sued for sexual...