Posted In: Litigation
What is Sexual Harassment in the Workplace and what can an Employer do about it?
on October 24, 2016
Workplace harassment is unlawful when an individual is harassed on the basis of his or her gender or other protected status, such as age, race, or religion; however, it's possible that sexual harassment may be the most prevalent type of workplace harassment. Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), "it is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person's sex. Harassment can include "sexual harassment" or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature."...
Preservation Obligations for Third-Parties to Litigation
on May 26, 2016
Most businesses operate with a document retention plan in place to provide for the systematic review, retention, and destruction of documents that are created or received in the ordinary course of business. Document retention plans are valuable because they enable businesses to comply with their regulatory retention requirements and preserve necessary documents, while ensuring that they avoid retaining documents that have outlived their useful purpose....
The U.S. Department of Labor's Overtime Rule Changes: New Regulations Expected to Change the Exemptions for "White Collar" Employees
on May 12, 2016
The U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") is likely to publish its new overtime rule changes in the very near future. Currently, employees who are designated as salaried employees in "managerial" positions are exempt from overtime if they meet certain minimum "tests" related to their primary job duties and they are paid on a salary basis at a certain threshold. That threshold is currently at $455 a week (or $23,660 per year), and it is expected to increase to $970 a week (or $50,440 per year) in 2016. Among other things, the new regulations propose to set the salary level at the 40th percentile of weekly earnings for full-time salaried workers. In addition, the regulations propose to increase the total annual compensation requirement that typically exempts highly compensated employees to the 90th percentile of weekly earnings for full-time workers (or $122,148 per year)....