Friday’s opinion by Judge Stephen Reinhardt in Davis v. Team Electric Co. addresses many of the problems confronted by women trying to enter, and to stay in the workforce on construction sites. As you might guess from the identity of the opinion’s author, the results are almost uniformly favorable to the female plaintiff.
Christie Davis worked […]
The California Supreme Court recently ruled that a supervisor could not be held individually liable for retaliation based on sexual orientation, reversing a $155,000 verdict. California state law limits claims for employment discrimination to “employers,” but the same state law prohibits retaliation by “any employer, labor organization, employment agency, or person.” The employee argued that […]
The Alaska Supreme Court on February 22nd declined to accept the question certified by Judge Beistline in Johnson v. Fred Meyer Stores:
Does an at-will employee have a tort public policy claim under Alaska’s implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing when an employer discharges that employee in order to replace her with someone with whom […]
Mixed motive in Alaska: The current issue of the Alaska Law Review carries an article entitled, “Mixed-motives for Firing Employees: Alaska’s inconsistent standards and its failure to follow the changing federal tide.” The author is Brianne Schwanitz, a Duke 3L.
Employer’s duty to maintain insurance while employee is on FMLA leave: An employer’s failure to do so constitutes […]
Comparative qualifications are irrelevant if the plaintiff fails the prima facie test
If an employer rejects the mostly highly qualified applicant, and that applicant is a member of the protected class, must the case go to the jury? No, says the Alaska Supreme Court - not if the applicant has not met the other criteria for a prima facie case.
Clarito […]
The 9th Circuit has vacated Judge Beistline’s summary judgment in the employer’s favor on a Title 18 claim of retaliation. The Court affirmed Beistline on a a disparate treatment claim. The appellate opinion is unpublished.
Dwight Greene, a manager of the Northern Lights branch of FedEx Kinko’s, complained that FedEx provided him less support than it provided to the […]
The Second Circuit has now unambiguously held that
mandatory arbitration clauses in collective bargaining agreements are unenforceable to the extent they waive the rights of covered workers to a judicial forum for federal statutory causes of action.
Pyett v. Pennsylvania Building Company, ___ F.3d ___, 2007 WL 2189126 (2nd Cir. Aug. 1, 2007). The Court emphasized that Wright v. […]
The Faragher/Ellerth affirmative defense is applicable only if the plaintiff seeks to hold the defendant liable for harassment on a vicarious liability theory and the plaintiff did not suffer a tangible employment action. If you have proof that the employer knew or should have known about the harasser’s conduct before this particular plaintiff was harassed, […]
In last Friday’s opinion, Deptula v. Simpson, 2007 WL 2143018 (Alaska July 27, 2007), the Alaska Supreme Court offered some clues about how it will resolve the waiver issues raised, but left open in Hammond v. State, DOTPF, 107 P.3d 871 (Alaska 2005), and Barnica v. Kenai Penin. Bor. Sch. Dist., 46 P.3d 974 (Alaska 2002). Justice […]
The Alaska State Commission for Human Rights (ASCHR) publishes an Annual Report. The Report indicates that 2006 saw a 40% increase in cases that were closed through their mediation process. The settlement rate for cases that went through mediation in 2006 was 78%. The Annual Report contains a summary of cases that went through public hearing, and also […]
