Eric Meyer
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Articles by Eric Meyer
Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself
M y name is Eric Meyer, a founding partner at Pierson Ferdinand LLP. You may know me as the guy who turns someone else’s workplace disaster into your morning readi n g. If you’ve ever read a post here and thought, “Please tell me our managers aren’t doing that,” we’re practically k i ndred spirits already. The blog is what many of you see. Most of my day is spent working through these issues with Read Complete Article
The EEOC’s Anti-American Discrimination Priority Gets a Red-Highlighted Example
If you want the EEOC’s attention, do this: send an email — in red highlight — seeking “ONLY H1B” applicants. It’s one of the allegations in a new federal lawsuit, part of the agency’s push against anti-American bias. TL;DR: The EEOC sued an IT staffing agency under Title VII, alleging a recruiter’s “ONLY H1B” email shut an American candidate out of a job lead because of national origin. These are allegations only, and no court has ruled.
The EEOC’s Anti-American Discrimination Priority Gets a Red-Highlighted Example
I f you want the EEOC’s attention, do this: send an email — in red highlight — seeking “ONLY H1B” applicants. It’s one of the allegations in a new federal lawsuit, part of the agency’s push a ga inst anti-American bias. TL;DR: The EEOC sued an IT staffing agency under Title VII, alleging a recruiter’s “ONLY H1B” email shut an American candidate out of a job lead because of national origin. These are Read Complete Article
Can a Paid Suspension Trigger a Sex Bias Verdict? This One Did.
T he university kept paying its softball coach during an investigation. Its no-contact order also stopped her from teaching, and the suspension became a $300,000 sex bias judgment. T L; DR: A jury found sex motivated a university’s paid suspension of its women’s softball coach, and an appeals court upheld the $300,000 judgment. The university won her separate firing claim. The no-contact rule stopped her teaching, and a male coach kept working during Read Complete Article
The Layoff Was Planned Before His FMLA Request. The Timing Became the Problem.
The company had decided to eliminate his job before he told his manager about his planned parental leave. So why did he get his termination notice in April when the other people on the layoff list remained until July? TL;DR: An employer had already selected an employee for a restructuring when he told his manager he planned to take FMLA leave. A Texas federal court ruled that the earlier layoff decision did not resolve whether the employer moved up his termination because of that leave.
The Layoff Was Planned Before His FMLA Request. The Timing Became the Problem.
T he company had decided to eliminate his job before he told his manager about his planned parental leave. So why did he get his termination notice in April when the other people on the layoff list remained until July? T L; DR: An employer had already selected an employee for a restructuring when he told his manager he planned to take FMLA leave. A Texas federal court ruled that the earlier layoff Read Complete Article
The Pride Flags Came Down. Why the Title VII Claims Did Too.
P ride flags came down. Pride stickers were covered and prohibited. An LGBTQ+ student club received extra field-trip scrutiny. That is how three teachers described the pattern in their complaint. TL ;DR: Three LGBTQ+ teachers claimed discrimination after a school district restricted Pride flags and stickers and required extra field-trip information. The Second Circuit affirmed dismissal because those directives did not harm an identifiable term or condition of employment.
“Not Crazy About White People” Allegedly Appeared in an HR Report. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
T he employer hired an outside investigator to examine workplace concerns. A former HR employee later relied on what the investigator allegedly documented to support her own bias claims. T L; DR: A White HR employee alleged that leadership tolerated racial preferences, excluded her from a DEI webinar, and fired her after she complained. A Pennsylvania federal judge dismissed some claims but allowed her core Section 1981 race claims to proceed. &e t h;Ÿ“„ Read Read Complete Article
HR Is Not a Theology Department. Here’s How to Review Religious Accommodation Requests.
H R can ask an employee to explain a religious conflict. The trouble begins when the review turns into a theological examination. T L; DR: A federal appeals court revived an employee’s religious-accommodation claim after her employer treated her vaccine objections as secular. Personal, medical, and ethical concerns did not erase the religious component of her request.
Three Employees Refused the Same Drug Test. Only the White Employee Got His Job Back.
M anagement enforced its drug-testing rule. The exceptions it made afterward created the bigger problem. T L; DR: A federal appeals court revived race-discrimination and retaliation claims because a White employee received a second chance that two Black employees did not, while other evidence included unequal pay, White replacements, and conflicting explanations for the drug test.
The Employer Appealed a $1 Million Punitive Award. The Third Circuit Made It $2 Million.
T he company had an anti-harassment policy, trained its employee-relations manager to investigate complaints, and opened one. Then it assigned the accused supervisor to counsel the employee who complained about him. T L; DR: The only Black employee in an office reported racist conduct by her supervisor. The investigation skipped a key witness, failed to address threats intended to discourage HR complaints, and did not discipline the supervisor for his own discriminatory conduct.
A RIF Needed One More Answer: Why Was the Employee on Leave Chosen?
C alling a termination a reduction in force does not make the selection process disappear. If the paper trail cannot explain the choice, a jury may get the opportunity to examine it. T L; DR: An employer said it eliminated a plant manager’s position because it had too many layers of leadership. But it produced no documented objective criteria explaining why it selected him instead of the operations manager, no contemporaneous documents substantiating Read Complete Article
Can Nonprofit Employees Volunteer to Raise Puppies? The DOL Fetches an Answer.
T he DOL has finally answered the workplace question keeping America awake: May employees take home a puppy without bringing home an overtime claim? Please remain calm: the puppies are fine. T L; DR: Employees of a nonprofit may volunteer to raise service-dog puppies if they act freely, expect no compensation, and perform work different from their paid jobs. Based on the duties the DOL assumed, veterinarians and directors may qualify. Dog trainers Read Complete Article
If the Duties Say Manager, the DOL Says Hands Off Other Employees’ Tips.
A supervisor can tend bar, cover tables, and help bus dishes. But under a DOL opinion letter, performing tipped work does not necessarily earn that employee a share of other employees’ ti p s. TL;DR: The DOL says an employee whose duties satisfy the FLSA’s definition of a manager or supervisor cannot receive other employees’ tips through a tip pool, even while bartending or helping tipped employees. The employee may keep tips Read Complete Article
A Manager Couldn’t Follow the Spanish-Language Meetings. His Discrimination Claims Got Lost in Translation.
A 25-minute meeting in Spanish allegedly became a two-sentence summary in English. That may be a workplace communication problem, but this court did not see race or national-origin discrimination. T L; DR: A white, English-speaking manager claimed that Spanish-language workplace meetings excluded him and interfered with his job.
She Requested a Pregnancy Accommodation. Her Overtime Disappeared. Then Her Job Did.
T he employer approved light duty. Seventeen days later, it fired the pregnant employee over an alleged policy violation from two months earlier. T L; DR: A warehouse associate plausibly alleged pregnancy discrimination and retaliation after her employer allegedly reduced her overtime, approved light duty, and then fired her.
A Polygraph, Ayahuasca, and the Religious-Accommodation Claim That Survived
A job applicant told a polygraph examiner that she consumed ayahuasca as part of her religion. An agency adjudicator labeled it “recent illegal drug use,” and the tentative job offer disap p ea red. TL;DR: A federal applicant plausibly alleged religious discrimination after an agency withdrew her tentative offer based on her sacramental ayahuasca use. Her Title VII claims survived because the agency’s drug-policy and safety arguments required a factual record. For private Read Complete Article
He Allegedly Lied in His EEOC Charge. Firing Him Cost the Employer $250,000.
T he employer thought it had caught an employee lying in an EEOC charge. Then it put that conclusion in the termination notice. T hat second decision cost considerably more than the first. TL ;DR: An employer fired a detention deputy after concluding that he made false statements in an EEOC charge. A jury awarded him $250,000 for retaliation, and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed. Binding precedent protected the statements even if they were Read Complete Article
Seven Employment Claims Took the Stage. Lizzo’s Touring Company Was Good as H*ll at Defeating Them.
L izzo’s touring company swept every remaining claim from a former wardrobe assistant’s lawsuit off the stage. The celebrity headline masks an evidence l es son. TL;DR: A federal court granted summary judgment to Lizzo’s touring company on seven employment claims. Some alleged conduct was inappropriate, but the evidence did not establish unlawful harassment, an ADA disability, or protected FLSA a ctivity.
That Time an AI Note-Taker Turned a Termination Call Into a Gender Bias Lawsuit
T he employee left the termination call. Unfortunately for the company, its AI note-taker apparently did not. And it allegedly emailed her what the company representatives said next. T L; DR: A former environmental scientist alleges that her employer fired her during a recorded video call, then discussed replacing her with “hopefully a relatively strapping young man” after she left. The employer’s AI meeting assistant allegedly emailed her a link to the transcript. Read Complete Article
Can a Sexual Harassment Claim Discovered Mid-Arbitration Force the Entire Case into Court? A Federal Appellate Court Said Yes.
An arbitration agreement usually decides where an employment dispute will be heard. In this case, evidence uncovered during arbitration opened the door to court instead. TL;DR: A former executive began arbitrating national-origin and domestic-violence-victim claims. After withdrawing over allegedly late arbitration fees, she filed in court and relied on evidence obtained during and after arbitration to support a sex-based hostile-environment claim.
Can a Sexual Harassment Claim Discovered Mid-Arbitration Force the Entire Case into Court? A Federal Appellate Court Said Yes.
A n arbitration agreement usually decides where an employment dispute will be heard. In this case, evidence uncovered during arbitration opened the door to court instead. T L; DR: A former executive began arbitrating national-origin and domestic-violence-victim claims. After withdrawing over allegedly late arbitration fees, she filed in court and relied on evidence obtained during and after arbitration to support a sex-based hostile-environment claim.
Remote Professor? A School’s No-Remote Rule Could Not Avoid an Accommodation Trial
A no-remote rule sounds straightforward. It became much less so when a professor with an autoimmune condition requested an accommodation. T L; DR: An associate professor diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune condition requested permission to move her scheduled in-person courses online for four semesters while taking immunosuppressive medication.
The Protected-Leave Problem That May Be Hiding in Performance Metrics
Protected leave can be approved on paper and penalized in a spreadsheet. A federal judge just allowed fourteen employment claims to proceed over an allegedly leave-blind performance system. TL;DR: An employee alleged that her employer’s utilization formula, staffing practices, and peer comparisons depressed the performance ratings of employees who took protected parental, pregnancy, or pregnancy-disability leave.
The Protected-Leave Problem That May Be Hiding in Performance Metrics
P rotected leave can be approved on paper and penalized in a spreadsheet. A federal judge just allowed fourteen employment claims to proceed over an allegedly leave-blind performance system. T L; DR: An employee alleged that her employer’s utilization formula, staffing practices, and peer comparisons depressed the performance ratings of employees who took protected parental, pregnancy, or pregnancy-disability leave.
A False Cancer Diagnosis Could Not Cure the Employer’s Very Real ADA Problem
H e claimed that when he told his employer he had cancer, his boss reacted by saying, “Are you f*****g kidding me? Your obligations are here.” As it turned out, the diagnosis was wrong. That did not spare his employer from facing an ADA tr ial. TL;DR: An employee told his employer that he had cancer and needed three days off. The diagnosis was wrong, but the employer allegedly believed it when Facebook Twitter/X LinkedIn Read Complete Article Employer Handbook
29 Absences, 120 Late Arrivals, and an HR Discrimination Claim That Punched Out Early.
Her job was tracking employee attendance. Unfortunately, someone was tracking hers, too. TL;DR: A federal appeals court upheld summary judgment for an employer after an HR employee alleged discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment. Documented attendance problems, incomplete work, and internal investigations helped defeat her claims.
29 Absences, 120 Late Arrivals, and an HR Discrimination Claim That Punched Out Early.
H er job was tracking employee attendance. Unfortunately, someone was tracking hers, too. T L; DR: A federal appeals court upheld summary judgment for an employer after an HR employee alleged discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment. Documented attendance problems, incomplete work, and internal investigations helped defeat her claims.
Six Emmys Could Not Anchor This Pay Discrimination Claim.
S he had six Emmy Awards. The male colleague earning more than she did had none. TL ;DR: A Michigan appeals court upheld summary disposition for a television station after an award-winning reporter claimed sex discrimination based on a male colleague’s higher salary. The employer traced the pay gap to his major-market reporting experience, FBI background, and years of percentage-based raises, while the reporter could not show that Emmy Awards factored into Read Complete Article
99.9% of Germs Eliminated. Also Her ADA Claims.
Keeping disinfectant in the office during the pandemic was understandable. Following coworkers around and spraying it on their clothes and sometimes in their mouths was not. TL;DR: A federal appeals court upheld summary judgment for an employer on disability discrimination and retaliation claims after an employee was fired for directing disinfectant at coworkers.
99.9% of Germs Eliminated. Also Her ADA Claims.
K eeping disinfectant in the office during the pandemic was understandable. Following coworkers around and spraying it on their clothes and sometimes in their mouths was not. TL ;DR: A federal appeals court upheld summary judgment for an employer on disability discrimination and retaliation claims after an employee was fired for directing disinfectant at coworkers.
A Religious Accommodation Claim Requires More Than a Request and a Denial
A n employee requested a religious exemption from a vaccine mandate but initially refused to answer most of her employer’s follow-up questions. By the time she completed the form, the employer said its decision was fin a l. TL;DR: A federal appeals court vacated an employee’s summary judgment victory in a Title VII religious accommodation case. The trial court applied an outdated standard to the initial elements of the claim and incorrectly treated Read Complete Article
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.
Why an Open Job Beats Unpaid Leave When an Employee Can Work
T he 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. T L; 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 Read Complete Article
Title VII Bans Discrimination and Retaliation, Not Stressful Offices or Difficult Bosses
T he employer offered him $400,000 to stay. He still claimed that workplace stress, microaggressions, and an abrasive executive amounted to race discrimination. T L; DR: A federal appeals court affirmed summary judgment for an employer, holding that an extra safety audit, continued safety monitoring, and workplace stress did not harm an identifiable term or condition of employment.
Can an Employer Reject a Doctor’s Return-to-Work Clearance?
His doctors cleared him to return to work. The railroad kept him away from moving trains for five years. TL;DR: A federal appeals court upheld summary judgment for an employer that barred a railroad conductor from returning after a stroke because of the risk of a future seizure. Although the employee’s doctors cleared him, the employer conducted multiple individualized medical reviews and reached an objectively reasonable conclusion based on his condition, job duties, and medical guidance.
Can an Employer Reject a Doctor’s Return-to-Work Clearance?
H is doctors cleared him to return to work. The railroad kept him away from moving trains for five years. T L; DR: A federal appeals court upheld summary judgment for an employer that barred a railroad conductor from returning after a stroke because of the risk of a future seizure. Although the employee’s doctors cleared him, the employer conducted multiple individualized medical reviews and reached an objectively reasonable conclusion based on his Read Complete Article
Can an Ignored Accommodation Request Turn a Performance Firing Into an ADA Claim?
T he employee asked for help completing his work. Months later, the unfinished work became the reason for firing him. TL ;DR: A federal appeals court rejected an employee’s intentional disability discrimination claim because the decisionmaker did not know about his disabilities. But it revived his failure-to-accommodate claim because HR and the deputy chief allegedly failed to act on requests for help that might have prevented the performance problems leading to his Read Complete Article
A DEI Training Split Staff by Race. The Employee Who Objected Was Black.
Browse the headlines about DEI-training backlash lawsuits and they usually go one way: a white employee gets offended and sues over it. This one, initiated by the EEOC, ain’t that at all. TL;DR: The EEOC has sued a St. Louis university, alleging it retaliated against a Black senior program manager who complained that mandatory diversity training singled her out by race, then fired her months after she filed an EEOC charge and promoted another employee into a similarly titled senior position.
A DEI Training Split Staff by Race. The Employee Who Objected Was Black.
B rowse the headlines about DEI-training backlash lawsuits and they usually go one way: a white employee gets offended and sues over it. This one, initiated by the EEOC, ain’t that at a l l. TL;DR: The EEOC has sued a St. Louis university, alleging it retaliated against a Black senior program manager who complained that mandatory diversity training singled her out by race, then fired her months after she filed an EEOC Read Complete Article
When a Discrimination Complaint Comes Wrapped in Profanity, Can HR Discipline the Employee?
W orkplace profanity was business as usual, right up until it accompanied a complaint about racism. T L; DR: An employee used repeated profanity while complaining to his supervisor about alleged race discrimination. The employer fired him eight days later, but a federal appeals court revived his Section 1981 retaliation claim because a jury could find that the employer’s explanation was false or had changed. HR must separate the misconduct from the protected Read Complete Article
A Judge’s Mug Was Crude Enough to Blog About. A Court Still Said It Wasn’t Harassment
A judge joked about his female employee’s sexuality and kept a mug decorated with cartoon genitalia in his own courtroom. The same judge required her to burn a full day of sick leave every time she needed an hour off for a medical appointment. A federal appeals court still ruled none of it was enough to reach a jury. TL;DR: A federal appeals court affirmed summary judgment for the employer on a hostile work environment claim and a disability accommodation claim brought by a former court reporter.
A Judge’s Mug Was Crude Enough to Blog About. A Court Still Said It Wasn’t Harassment
A judge joked about his female employee’s sexuality and kept a mug decorated with cartoon genitalia in his own courtroom. The same judge required her to burn a full day of sick leave every time she needed an hour off for a medical appointment. A federal appeals court still ruled none of it was enough to reach a ju r y. TL;DR: A federal appeals court affirmed summary judgment for the employer Read Complete Article
Tried to Waive the Jury, Failed. Got a Jury, It Didn’t Decide the Right Thing Either.
A supervisor approved the employee’s hairstyle at her interview, then sent her home for wearing it on day one. A federal appeals court says the case over what happened next isn’t finished, for eithe r s ide. TL;DR: A federal appeals court vacated an $811,264 jury verdict for a former security contractor employee after finding the trial judge’s jury instructions omitted a required element of her retaliation claim. It also rejected the Read Complete Article
Two Judges Just Volunteered to Kill a 50-Year-Old Discrimination Standard
An employee’s attempt to end fifty years of discrimination-law precedent went nowhere on appeal. But, two of the three judges who rejected it wrote separately to say they’d take another case just to do it. TL;DR: A federal appeals court affirmed summary judgment for the employer on race discrimination, retaliation, and a Louisiana whistleblower claim, rejecting the plaintiff’s push to abandon the McDonnell Douglas framework for evaluating discrimination claims.
Two Judges Just Volunteered to Kill a 50-Year-Old Discrimination Standard
A n employee’s attempt to end fifty years of discrimination-law precedent went nowhere on appeal. But, two of the three judges who rejected it wrote separately to say they’d take another case just to do it. TL;DR: A federal appeals court affirmed summary judgment for the employer on race discrimination, retaliation, and a Louisiana whistleblower claim, rejecting the plaintiff’s push to abandon the McDonnell Douglas framework for evaluating discrimination claims. Two Read Complete Article
A Supervisor Swore He Didn’t Know About the Disability. His Own Notes Said Otherwise.
A supervisor swore in an affidavit that he had no idea an employee was disabled. His own meeting notes said otherwise, and that contradiction just cost a Texas community college its win. T L; DR: A federal appeals court revived a former college employee’s disability discrimination, disability retaliation, and FMLA retaliation claims after her supervisor’s sworn denial of knowing about her disability conflicted with his own records, creating a fact question for Read Complete Article
One and Done: Why the EEOC Couldn’t Prove “Ongoing” Harassment
One racial slur wasn’t enough to put a company on notice. A federal appeals court explained why and upheld the jury’s verdict for the employer. TL;DR: A federal appeals court affirmed a jury verdict for an employer in a race-based hostile work environment case, holding that one earlier incident involving a coworker’s racial slur didn’t establish “ongoing” harassment, and that two separate disciplinary responses, both short of termination, were reasonably designed to end the behavior.
One and Done: Why the EEOC Couldn’t Prove “Ongoing” Harassment
O ne racial slur wasn’t enough to put a company on notice. A federal appeals court explained why and upheld the jury’s verdict for the em p lo yer. TL;DR: A federal appeals court affirmed a jury verdict for an employer in a race-based hostile work environment case, holding that one earlier incident involving a coworker’s racial slur didn’t establish “ongoing” harassment, and that two separate disciplinary responses, both short of termination, were reasonably Read Complete Article
An Employer Told Two Different Stories About One Firing. How Do You Think It’s Going?
An employer told the EEOC one story to get a discrimination charge dismissed as too late. It told the court a different story to win summary judgment. The judge noticed. T L; DR: A magistrate judge recommended denying summary judgment on the EEOC’s age discrimination claim against a meat processing company, finding it gave inconsistent explanations for firing a 59-year-old sales manager: first telling the EEOC the sole reason was a 2019 Read Complete Article
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