Recently in Employment Law Category

Jeffrey Knutson excelled as the General Manager of a Home Service food delivery depot. Home Service provides frozen foods to customers' homes or workplaces. He continued being great at his job, even though he suffered a penetrating eye injury in March 2008. Nine months later, he lost his Medical Examiner's Certificate (MEC) and by extension, his Department of Transportation (DOT) qualification.

Home Service gave him 30 days to either obtain a MEC or to find a non-DOT-qualified position at the company. After 30 days, he was fired. He claims that this termination was contrary to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The lower court granted summary judgment. The Eighth Circuit affirmed - and it wasn't even close.

Some rapscallions were vandalizing and stealing property from Gear Automotive in Kansas City. The police, after investigating, expressed their hunch that the culprits would return, and suggested that someone guard the lot. As many of my fellow-Missourians would do, Robert Gear decided to round up a posse - himself, his brother Darrel, and some armed guy named Joe.

When unidentified individuals did show, the predictable happened, and Joe accidentally shot Robert.

You’ve probably heard about it by now: Last week, the all-male Iowa Supreme Court ruled that an employer could fire an employee for being too attractive. According to the state court, such conduct “does not amount to unlawful sex discrimination” under the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

What you may not realize is that the controversial decision is consistent with a 2006 employment law ruling from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Let’s compare and contrast, shall we?

After returning from his third military leave of absence, Douglas Milhauser learned that he had lost his job at Minco Products, Inc. Since federal law mandates that returning veterans be reemployed in an "appropriate position," Milhauser sued.

Minco argued at trial that Milhauser work performance had been poor, and it was forced to reduce its workforce after a bad year. The company asserted that changed circumstances had made reemploying him impossible or unreasonable. In the alternative, the company claimed that it had not failed to place Milhauser in the proper reemployment position because he would have been terminated even if he had not left for service.

The district court ruled for Minco. This week, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision.

Things that we learned from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals this week:

1. You can get a degree in funeral science.
2. Your Facebook status could be cause for termination from a funeral science teaching gig.
3. The school that fires you for your Facebook status might be entitled to qualified immunity.

A spat over 10 minutes' pay can turn into a federal appellate case.

Leslie Montgomery worked for Kyle and Kathy Havner at the Havner Law Firm in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Kathy was the office manager for the firm. Beginning early in Montgomery's employment at the firm, Montgomery and Kathy had disagreements about Montgomery's choice of dress, use of Facebook during work hours, and entry into the office after hours.

The disagreements ultimately resulted in Montgomery's termination.

Gage Hunter was born female, but has identified as male since childhood.

In 2006, Hunter applied for a job at UPS under his birth name, Jessica Axt, and presenting as female. Hunter was offered a position, but turned it down.

In 2008, Hunter applied to be a UPS package handler, a popular position due to the great benefits. (Less than 20 percent of package handler applicants are hired.) Hunter didn't get an offer.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed this week that an employer doesn't have to reallocate or eliminate the essential functions of a job to accommodate a disabled employee.

Terri Kallail began working at Alliant Energy Corporate Services in 1996 as a Customer Service Consultant. She eventually became a Resource Coordinator at the Distribution Dispatch Center (DDC) in Cedar Rapids. To provide 24/7 coverage, Alliant requires Resource Coordinators at the DDC to work 9-week schedules that rotate between 12-hour and 8-hour shifts, and day and night shifts.

Wage discrimination claims have specific standards. In order to bring a proper claim of wage discrimination, those standards must be met. In a recent Eighth Circuit case, a professor at St. Cloud State University failed to meet these standards when he alleged that race played a factor in his low salary.

Here’s a deeper look at the case and why he lost his wage discrimination argument.

Could the act of requiring your employees to disclose the medications they take violate the Americans with Disabilities Act?

That question came up in a recent Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals case reviewing settlement talks between a company and the EEOC. At the core of the case was the issue of whether a company had gone too far when it terminated an employee for failing to disclose that he was on medications that potentially affected his ability to work.