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Articles by Eric Meyer
The EEOC Rescinds Its Criminal-Records Guidance. What Changes for Employers?
The EEOC’s retreat from disparate-impact enforcement now reaches criminal background checks. Employers considering changes to their screening procedures will need to look beyond the agency’s announcement. TL;DR: The EEOC rescinded its 2012 criminal-records guidance, effective immediately, against the backdrop of the administration’s opposition to disparate-impact liability. The change signals a different federal enforcement approach.
The EEOC Rescinds Its Criminal-Records Guidance. What Changes for Employers?
T he EEOC’s retreat from disparate-impact enforcement now reaches criminal background checks. Employers considering changes to their screening procedures will need to look beyond the agency’s announ ceme nt. TL;DR: The EEOC rescinded its 2012 criminal-records guidance, effective immediately, against the backdrop of the administration’s opposition to disparate-impact liability. The change signals a different federal enforcement approach.
A Smaller Job, Nearly $12,000 Less Pay, and a Younger Replacement. Forced Out Because of Age?
The employer said it was try ing to keep a struggling manager employed. He saw an age-based effort to push him out, but the court found that his retirement was still his choice. TL;DR: A federal appeals co urt upheld the employer’s win before trial on a 60-year-old employee’s claim of forced retirement because of age. His constructive-discharge theory failed: the changes did not make quitting his only reasonable option, and the
She Couldn’t Do Every Task Remotely. Her Accommodation Claim Still Survived.
The employee admitted she could not do every part of her job from home. Her employer still needed a better explanation for why remote work would burden the business. TL;DR: A federal appeals court revived a dental employee’s religious accommodation claim because the employer had not adequately supported its remote-work hardship defense. The court upheld its separate conclusion that allowing her to work in the office unvaccinated would create undue hardship.
She Couldn’t Do Every Task Remotely. Her Accommodation Claim Still Survived.
T he employee admitted she could not do every part of her job from home. Her employer still needed a better explanation for why remote work would burden the business. TL;D R: A federal appeals court revived a dental employee’s religious accommodation claim because the employer had not adequately supported its remote-work hardship defense. The court upheld its separate conclusion that allowing her to work in the office unvaccinated would create undue
EEOC’s Lawsuit Over a Women-Only Work Event Clears Its First Court Hurdle
A company-paid hotel stay, meals, and two days away from regular duties sound like nice work perks. Restricting the invitation list by sex can turn those perks into a discrimination lawsuit. TL;D R: A federal court allowed the EEOC’s sex discrimination lawsuit over a women-only networking event to proceed. Excluded male employees plausibly lost employment benefits even without allegations that the event affected a hiring or promotion decision. 📄 Read th e
Can One Local Law Upend an Employer’s Leave Program? Allegheny County Offers a $50,400 Example.
Your company may be headquartered hundreds of miles from Pittsburgh. A remote employee working in Allegheny County could still bring the nation’s first countywide paid parental leave mandate to your doorstep. TL;DR: Allegheny County has enacted employer-funded parental leave of up to 12 weeks and expanded sick leave. The broader lesson: employee work locations and specific legal requirements can expose gaps in an otherwise generous leave program.
Can One Local Law Upend an Employer’s Leave Program? Allegheny County Offers a $50,400 Example.
Y our company may be headquartered hundreds of miles from Pittsburgh. A remote employee working in Allegheny County could still bring the nation’s first countywide paid parental leave mandate to your doorst e p. TL;DR: Allegheny County has enacted employer-funded parental leave of up to 12 weeks and expanded sick leave. The broader lesson: employee work locations and specific legal requirements can expose gaps in an otherwise generous leave program . 📄 Read our
She Named Coworkers Who Got Better Treatment. Why Did Her Discrimination Claim Fail?
A n employee accused of misconduct can often name someone who supposedly got away with something similar. Employers should be prepared to explain why one employee receives different treatment than another, and good documentation can help. TL ;DR: A sheriff’s office defeated a detective’s sex-discrimination claim without a trial, and a federal appeals court upheld the result. The coworkers she identified did not support her claim that she received worse treatment because
The Assault Was Essentially Undisputed. So Why Did the Harassment Claim Fail?
A company retreat ended with coworkers pulling a man off an employee he sexually assaulted. The company kept him. TL;D R: An employer won a federal case alleging harassment and a firing in retaliation for reporting an assault. The harassment claim was filed too late, and records supported the company’s reasons for firing the employee. The court left her claims under state law undecided. 📄 Read the cour t’s decision. A remote
Can a Sexual Harassment Claim Keep the Whole Lawsuit Out of Arbitration? Yes.
Y our employee signed an agreement to arbitrate all employment disputes. But a single sexual harassment claim can bring an entire lawsuit, and every other claim with it, into court anyway. TL;D R: The Second Circuit joined the Sixth and Ninth Circuits in holding that properly invoking the federal law allowing sexual harassment disputes to proceed in court keeps the entire lawsuit out of compelled arbitration, including non-harassment claims. Employers need to
A Transgender Employee Says the EEOC’s LGBTQ+ Rollbacks Drove Him Out. When Does Policy Become Harassment?
A former EEOC employee says the agency’s LGBTQ+ rollbacks made his job intolerable, including changes he was required to help implement. A federal court has allowed his harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims to proceed. TL;DR: A former transgender EEOC employee can pursue harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims tied to LGBTQ+ policy changes and alleged sidelining.
A Transgender Employee Says the EEOC’s LGBTQ+ Rollbacks Drove Him Out. When Does Policy Become Harassment?
A former EEOC employee says the agency’s LGBTQ+ rollbacks made his job intolerable, including changes he was required to help implement. A federal court has allowed his harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims to proce ed. TL;DR: A former transgender EEOC employee can pursue harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims tied to LGBTQ+ policy changes and alleged sidelining. The court rejected the argument that policy directives and administrative decisions categorically fall outside a
A Manager Tied Promotions to Ending HR Complaints. The Employer Still Won.
I f a manager has to explain why telling an employee to stop going to HR was legally defensible, the conversation has already gone poorly. T L; DR: An employer defeated a retaliation claim despite a manager linking promotions to an end to HR complaints. The decisive point: the employee’s relevant complaints described bullying and unprofessional conduct without connecting that treatment to unlawful discrimination . 📄 Read th e court’s decision Two complaints, then a Read Complete Article
Did Explaining a Religious Objection After Refusing to Escort a Transgender Spa Guest Come Too Late?
T hree days is a long time to wait to explain a religious objection. In this case, the wait came after the conflict, and that was enough to sink the accommodation claim. T L; DR: A Pennsylvania federal court dismissed, without prejudice, a spa employee’s Title VII and Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA) claims. She said she was “not comfortable” escorting a transgender guest to the women’s locker room and gave her religious Read Complete Article
Can You Blame an Employee for Ending Religious Accommodation Talks When You Offered No Alternative?
A resignation letter can look like a tidy ending. This one left the school defending what happened before it arrived. T L; DR: A school’s invitation to discuss alternatives left an employee’s Sabbath conflict unresolved. Her accommodation and retaliation claims survived because a jury could find her resignation was fo r ced. 📄 Rea d the court’s decision A scheduling request reached the boar d with key details missing The employee, a school business manager, asked Read Complete Article
When Do Remote Employees Count as One Worksite Under WARN’s Layoff-Notice Law?
Y our employees work from kitchen tables across the country. Before eliminating their jobs, you may need to figure out which tables count together. TL;D R: Courts disagree about how federal WARN’s layoff-notice requirements apply to fully remote employees. A Florida employer won this case, but working from home does not establish a nationwide exemption. The applicable court decisions and employees’ actual work connections mat t er. 📄 Read the court’s decision An aviation Read Complete Article
You Investigated the Harassment. Did the Response Work?
A meeting, a report, and a camera gave this employer plenty to describe. The employee’s testimony about what happened afterward gave a jury something to deci de. TL;DR: An employer investigated alleged racial harassment, prohibited the language, and later installed a camera. But the employee testified that the comments continued. Her harassment claims survived summary judgment, although the employer could still win at trial. The HR lesson: corrective action must be Read Complete Article
Suspected FMLA Fraud? The Investigation May Need One More Call.
A signature mismatch can make HR suspicious. It can also have an explanation worth hearing before someone gets fired. TL;D R: An employer fired an employee for allegedly falsifying FMLA paperwork after checking with two doctors who had not signed it. But it never followed a lead to the doctor who allegedly had. A federal court denied summary judgment on her retaliation claim, finding questions about the employer’s asserted good-faith belief. Read Complete Article
Help Me Build a Program Business Lawyers Will Actually Want to Attend.
The Pennsylvania Bar Institute has entrusted me with putting together three hours of online continuing legal education. Naturally, my first move is to recruit reinforcements. TL;DR: I’m looking for people interested in speaking at a remote labor and employment Business Lawyer Master Class in June 2027. You don’t need to be a lawyer, live in Pennsylvania, or arrive with a topic proposal. Interested? Email or text me, and we’ll talk. Who’s going to be listening?
Help Me Build a Program Business Lawyers Will Actually Want to Attend.
T he Pennsylvania Bar Institute has entrusted me with putting together three hours of online continuing legal education. Naturally, my first move is to recruit reinforcements. TL ;DR: I’m looking for people interested in speaking at a remote labor and employment Business Lawyer Master Class in June 2027. You don’t need to be a lawyer, live in Pennsylvania, or arrive with a topic proposal. Interested? Email or text me, and we&rsqu o;ll talk. Read Complete Article
Can Refusing a Settlement Meeting Support a Retaliation Claim?
A boss wanted to discuss settling an employee’s harassment claims without lawyers present. That invitation came with more baggage than the calendar entry suggest ed . TL;DR: The Second Circuit revived an employee’s retaliation claims after finding that her refusal to discuss settlement plausibly communicated continued opposition to discrimination. She still has to prove her case.
Maybe Don’t Ask ChatGPT How to Make Emails Disappear During Litigation
T here are probably better things to ask ChatGPT during litigation than how quickly permanently deleted emails disappear. E specially when the other side is looking for those emails. T L; DR: A former employee denied signing a non-solicitation and confidentiality agreement. A forensic examination later uncovered ChatGPT searches about permanently deleted Yahoo emails.
Greetings From Mexico. About That Sick-Leave Policy…
A Mexico vacation while on sick leave is an easy headline. The employer’s defense required a closer look at two separate decisio n s. TL;DR: A police department defeated discrimination, accommodation, and retaliation claims brought by an officer demoted for violating its sick-leave policy and later discharged because she could not perform her essential duties. The broader lessons concern medical support for accommodations and a disciplinary timeline that preceded notice of an Read Complete Article
A Changing Termination Explanation Didn’t Sink This Employer’s Defense.
A termination letter can become a vocabulary quiz once litigation starts. Every changed adjective gets its own exhibit. TL;DR: An employer defeated race and age discrimination claims because its explanations consistently described the same policy violations. Differences in wording and minor factual discrepancies did not show that the stated reason for firing the employee was a cover for discrimination.
A Changing Termination Explanation Didn’t Sink This Employer’s Defense.
A termination letter can become a vocabulary quiz once litigation starts. Every changed adjective gets its own exhibit. T L; DR: An employer defeated race and age discrimination claims because its explanations consistently described the same policy violations. Differences in wording and minor factual discrepancies did not show that the stated reason for firing the employee was a cover for discrimination.
When DEI training becomes part of a hostile workplace claim
A federal judge dismissed this white employee’s hostile workplace claim last year. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit considered the alleged training remarks alongside years of workplace incidents and gave the claim new li fe . TL;DR: A jury could find a racially hostile work environment based on alleged statements during DEI training and other incidents spanning years. Employers may discuss racism and address racial barriers, but the alleged remarks during training and Read Complete Article
Employees Spent 14 Minutes Walking to and From Lunch. The DOL Says the Employer Still Didn’t Have to Pay Them.
A pparently, even the walk to lunch can become a federal wage-and-hour question. The answer depends less on the distance traveled than on what remains when employees arrive. T L; DR: Employees at a detention facility spent between six and 14 minutes of an unpaid 60-minute meal period walking to and from a designated break area. The Department of Labor concluded that the entire period could remain unpaid because the employees performed no Read Complete Article
She Asked for Unpaid Leave as a Disability Accommodation. Her Employer Offered 240 Paid Hours Instead. 😱
An accommodation does not become unreasonable merely because the employee would rather save it for vacations and family emergencies. TL ;DR: A federal employee experiencing depression and cardiac arrhythmia requested unpaid leave, a lateral transfer, or other help. Her employer offered flexible use of approximately 240 hours of accrued paid leave and, when no comparable position was available, a lower-level job.
Why an Open Job Beats Unpaid Leave When an Employee Can Work
The employee asked his manager about less physically demanding jobs. The manager offered to contact the risk department, then could not remember whether he ever did. TL;DR: The Fourth Circuit revived an employee’s ADA accommodation claim after his employer kept him on unpaid leave while filling customer service and sales positions he claimed he could perform. The employer preserved its separate victory on his discharge claim because his discrimination charges did not cover his resignation.
What Actually Gets Employers Sued — Live and Free on Zoom, August 21, 2026 at Noon ET
L et’s be honest: nobody dreams of ending up on the wrong end of an employment lawsuit. And yet, every year, well-meaning HR teams and in-house counsel find themselves scrambling to answer the question, “Wait, how did this become a c a se?” Enter Andrew Lacy, Jr. — a man who spent years on the defense side at a major international law firm and clerked for a federal judge, then decided the real Read Complete Article
New Jersey’s Independent Contractor Rules Are Now Official — And the Burden Is All Yours - HR News Feed
F ail any one of the three prongs of New Jersey’s ABC test, and the worker is your employee. The Department of Labor adopted new independent contractor rules on May 5, making that standard official in binding regulation, and employers have until October 1 to get their contractor relationships in ord e r. TL;DR: On May 5, 2026, New Jersey filed N.J.A.C. 12:11, which codifies how the state’s ABC test for independent contractor Read Complete Article
Can a $2 Billion Company Claim a $1,700 Accommodation Is Too Expensive?
According to the EEOC, a $2 billion company said it couldn’t afford $1,700 hearing protection for an employee losing her hearing on the job. A federal lawsuit and a $100,000 settlement later, that calculus looks different. This week is EEOC Settlement Week on The Employer Handbook: one recent EEOC settlement per day, with practical takeaways for employers. Today: a $100,000 ADA settlement over a denied accommodation and the demotion that followed.
Can a $2 Billion Company Claim a $1,700 Accommodation Is Too Expensive?
A ccording to the EEOC, a $2 billion company said it couldn’t afford $1,700 hearing protection for an employee losing her hearing on the job. A federal lawsuit and a $100,000 settlement later, that calculus looks differe n t . This week is EEOC Settlement Week on The Employer Handbook: one recent EEOC settlement per day, with practical takeaways for employers. Today: a $100,000 ADA settlement over a denied accommodation and the demotion that Read Complete Article
Who’s Responsible If Your Benefits Vendor Drops the Ball on ADA Leave?
S he showed up to work one morning, scanned her badge, and nothing happened. That’s allegedly how a 10-year employee learned she’d been fired while undergoing chemot he rapy. TL;DR: The EEOC sued a turkey processing employer, alleging it violated the ADA by refusing to accommodate an employee undergoing breast cancer treatment and then firing her under its attendance policy for missing shifts during chemotherapy.
The EEOC Pulled Its Harassment Guidance. Now What?
The EEOC just pulled the plug on its most comprehensive harassment guidance. Some federal guardrails are gone, but the law is not – and neither are employers’ obligations. TL;DR: The EEOC has rescinded its 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The statutes prohibiting harassment did not change, but the agency withdrew its most detailed explanation of how it interpreted those laws in practice.
After the SHRM Verdict, Five Lessons for Employers
Sometimes the biggest workplace stories are the ones that hit closest to home for HR professionals. A recent jury verdict involving the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is one of those moments, not because of who the defendant was, but because the issues are ones every employer faces. A Colorado jury awarded $11.5 million to a former SHRM employee on race discrimination and retaliation claims, as first reported by Business Insider.
š¦ Welcome to the The Employer Handbook Annual Thanksgiving Food Poll: 2025 Edition
Millions of Americans will sit down tomorrow and pretend that every dish on the table is: cooked through (optimistically), technically food, and made with love, when in reality at least three items will be: described as āinteresting,ā wrapped in foil that looks suspiciously like it came straight from a minivan, and transported in a Tupperware container from 1998.
š² Waitā¦ THIS Didnāt Count as a Hostile Work Environment?
Employees and supervisors often assume that any inappropriate physical contact is automatically a hostile work environment. But the Eleventh Circuit continues to apply one of the strictest āsevere or pervasiveā standards in the country. This case shows just how high that bar is. This is part two of the series. Yesterdayās post covered why a criminal subpoena did not count as Title VII āparticipation.ā Today, we look at the employeeās hostile work environment claim.
Back to Basics: The FMLA Doesn’t Protect Poor Performance
When an employee on FMLA leave also happens to be a problem employee, HR can feel trapped. A recent federal appellate decision is a reminder that the FMLA is not a shield against legitimate discipline. If the company can show it would have taken the same action regardless of leave, it is on solid legal ground. TL;DR: A federal appeals court affirmed summary judgment for the employer on an employee’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) interference and retaliation claims.
Social Causes on Company Uniforms? A Court Just Gave Employers Some Much-Needed Clarity (and Caution)
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Even Small Accommodation Requests Can Trigger Big ADA Problems
Sometimes it is not the big-ticket accommodations that land an employer in court. It is the small ones, like a few stretch breaks, that can become costly mistakes. TL;DR: A federal judge in Illinois refused to dismiss an ADA lawsuit after an employee alleged that her employer denied requests for FMLA leave and short hourly stretch breaks to relieve pain from a foot injury, then terminated her the very next day.
ICE and I-9 Audits: The Stakes Have Never Been Higher
Federal attention to I-9 compliance is surging. If you handle hiring, onboarding, or audits, this Client Alert is worth your time. TL;DR: My partners Giovanni Antonucci Di Cesare and Allison Bustin explain why I-9 compliance belongs on your short list. They cover three developments driving enforcement, the current fine ranges for first-time violations, and practical steps to get your house in order.
The DIY Lawyer on Your Payroll - Helping a Coworker and Shielded from Retaliation
When an employee moonlights as a coworker’s unofficial lawyer – researching the law, contacting HR, and encouraging her to find a lawyer and pursue a charge with the EEOC – that role might be protected from retaliation. Overlook that and you could be handing them a legal claim. TL;DR: One employee went beyond watercooler sympathy and became her coworker’s unofficial legal advocate – researching the law, pushing HR, filing internal complaints, and urging an EEOC charge.
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đź’» Join Me on Zoom for a Conversation with Former EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum about DEI and the Law | Open Legal Blog Archive
If your company has a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative — or you’re thinking about starting one — you’ve likely been paying attention to the legal noise surrounding these programs lately. Questions about what employers can and cannot do are swirling, especially in light of recent agency guidance and political scrutiny. So I thought, why not go straight to one of the people who helped shape the conversation?
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