One bourbon, one union election, and one bargaining order … is what an Written by Jon Hyman, a partner in the Employment & Labor practice at last week. The judge held that the distillery violated federal labor law by undermining its employees' unionization efforts and ordered the distillery to bargain with its employees as their remedy. For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or Do you like what you read? Receive updates two different ways: Please connect with me on ..read more

From this point forward, if an employee needs an unpaid leave of absence to obtain and recover from an abortion, you better give it her. I realize this topic is divisive, but this issue is no longer subject to debate. Written by Jon Hyman, a partner in the Employment & Labor practice at final regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act . Pre-publication, agency considered 94,000 comments urging it either to exclude or include "abortion" from the Act's definition of "pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions." The EEOC chose the latter. Here's why. For more informa ..read more

, the Supreme Court held that an employee alleging a discriminatory job transfer need not show the suffering of a "materially significant" disadvantage. Instead, the employee need only show "some injury respecting her employment terms or conditions." The case involved a police sergeant forced to transfer out of her position in the department's intelligence division. The employer claimed that she could not establish a Title VII volitation because the transfer did not result in a diminution of her pay.  Written by Jon Hyman, a partner in the Employment & Labor practice at For more infor ..read more

"No one wants to see a picket line on Sesame Street," said Writers Guild President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen. Written by Jon Hyman, a partner in the Employment & Labor practice at The writers are seeking industry standard annual raises, improvements to residuals, and union coverage for Sesame Workshop's animation and social media segments. Anyone who follows me on the regular knows that I'm no fan of labor unions. The demands of these writers, however, seem fair and reasonable. They will also have public sentiment on their side. For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or Ouch. Your ..read more

The 5th nominee for the Worst Employer of 2024 is … the abhorrent optometrist "The only thing that changed from when I left for maternity leave to when I was terminated was the fact that I had a baby. It sent a clear message they didn't value me as a person, as a new mom. It was shocking." Those are the words of Dr. Alana Curatola, who is now suing her former employer, Northwest Eye Surgeons, for discrimination. Written by Jon Hyman, a partner in the Employment & Labor practice at For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or Do you like what you read? Receive updates two differen ..read more

I will officially have a college student in a little over four months. The "if" was never in doubt, but there "where" definitely was … at least until a couple of weeks ago. — OWU, or, as it's affectionately called, OH-WOOO. She'll be a Battling Bishop. "Fit" might be a four-letter word in the employment law space, as employers often use it as a pretext for discrimination. But for Norah's college choice, it was all about fit. ✅ Within a shortish drive from home ✅ The ability to double major in early childhood education and French ✅ A cute campus with off-campus amenities within walking distance ..read more

Must you accommodation an employee's religion not to attend DEI training? Believe it or not, it might depend on the training. "Your respectful workplace training is against my religion; count me out." That's what one employee told his employer when it tried to compel him to attend its mandatory training about treating all with courtesy and respect. When the employee learned that one module of the training would include LGBTQI+ issues, he explained to his employer, "This subject matter contradicts my sincerely held religious beliefs." He advised that he would excuse himself during that portion ..read more

Don't be an ostrich with harassment "If I ignore harassment, it will go away" … is the 100% incorrect response to harassment happening in your workplace. It's also a non-refundable first-class ticket to a nasty lawsuit. An employer CANNOT ostrich workplace protected class harassment. "Employer" includes managers and supervisors. If someone in a position of authority witnesses or otherwise learns of protected class harassment in the workplace, the business has the same legal obligations as if the victim had complained. Written by Jon Hyman, a partner in the Employment & Labor practice at Fo ..read more

WIRTW #713: the ‘lounging around' edition Next week I'll be at the  at the Venetian in Las Vegas — a four-day gathering presented by the of all things craft brewers and craft beer. There are loads of speakers spread across eight educational tracks, a massive trade show, and too many networking opportunities to count. On the educational front, I'm speaking on Sunday as part of the On the networking front, my firm is sponsoring the lounge. Start A Brewery is a community of craft beer industry veterans who share our knowledge and experience in support of the craft beer community by help ..read more

If your company just agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit alleging horrific workplace sexual abuse and other sexual harassment, maybe it's not the best idea to trash the plaintiff on social media. National Raisin for the Worst Employe of 2024, based on the allegations of a lawsuit it just settled with the EEOC. Those allegations consisted of widespread sexual abuse perpetrated by a male supervisor. To make matters worse, the lawsuit also alleged that HR did nothing when employees complained. Written by Jon Hyman, a partner in the Employment & Labor practice at For more information ..read more