Recently in Employment Law Category

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has one of the fastest hearing-to-decision turnaround times in the country. When this appellate court decides that an injustice has occurred, it moves quickly.

Last week, the Atlanta-based court heard arguments in an HIV-positive cop applicant's discrimination claim. Wednesday, the court ruled for the appellant, finding that he could pursue his discrimination claim against the Atlanta Police Department for denying his application based on his HIV status, reports the Associated Press.

Last week, an HIV-positive Georgia man argued to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that he should be allowed to proceed with his discrimination claim against the Atlanta Police Department in a federal district court.

The man, using the name "Richard Roe" claims that a doctor who conducted his pre-employment medical exam as part of his application said that he "could not be employed in a position in which he had any contact with the public" because he was HIV-positive, and that he had "failed" his medical exam, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. When Roe wasn't offered the job, he sued.

The value of a good or a service is a relative measure. That’s why “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” It’s why people troll eBay and Craigslist for used goods. It’s why the IRS reviews the declared value of in-kind donations.

So who - other than the IRS - decides whether a thing has value?

This week, the answer is the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled on Wednesday that organizing assistance can be a thing of value under the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA).

Ash v. Tyson Foods, a racial discrimination lawsuit, has been toiling in federal courts for over a decade. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has considered the case four times. The Supreme Court has heard the case. So why has this case demanded so much judicial attention for so long?

In part, because the courts could not agree on whether the word “boy,” when applied to an adult, African-American man, qualified as a racial epithet.

The Alabama Crimson Tide football team and Kathryn Pereda have one thing in common: winning when it counts.

For the Crimson Tide football players, the win that mattered was last night’s BCS National Championship victory over our beloved LSU Tigers. (Well played, Nick Saban and crew.)

For Kathryn Pereda, the critical win was today’s Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling reinstating her FMLA rights violation case after a 12(b)(6) dismissal in the district court.

Just five days after hearing oral arguments in an employment discrimination lawsuit, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that an employer may not discriminate against a transgender employee on the basis of gender non-conformity, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In a unanimous opinion, the three-judge panel ruled that the Georgia General Assembly's Office of Legislative Counsel (OLC) violated the Equal Protection Clause's prohibition on sex-based discrimination by firing Vandy Beth Glenn after she revealed plans to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

Can an employer refuse to hire an applicant because he's HIV-positive?

A 39-year-old Georgia man claims that he was denied employment with the Atlanta Police Department (Atlanta PD) because he is HIV-positive. The man, using the name "Richard Roe" to protect his privacy in the litigation, claims that a doctor who conducted his pre-employment medical exam for the Atlanta PD told him that his HIV status disqualified him from joining the Atlanta PD.

The Atlanta PD did not offer Roe a position after the medical exam, so Roe sued, claiming HIV discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the federal Rehabilitation Act. Atlanta PD prevailed over Roe on summary judgment; now Roe is appealing to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

What should a bank do when $58,000 goes missing?

Hook employees up to a polygraph machine and demand answers.

In February 2007, the new manager of the Piedmont Commons Washington Mutual (WaMu) bank branch conducted a cash audit and discovered a shortage of approximately $58,000. The entire amount was missing from two teller cash dispenser machines that Plaintiff David Cummings, a former branch manager, had access to during his tenure at the branch.

The Eleventh Circuit issued a reminder this week that a plaintiff must actually win a judgment from the court in order to win attorney's fees.

The court ruled on Thursday that an employer who denies liability for nonpayment for overtime work is not required to pay the employee's attorney's fees and costs if he tenders the full amount claimed by the employee and subsequently wins a motion to dismiss the employee's complaint on mootness grounds.

Sanctions Against Plaintiff's Counsel in Sexual Harassment Matter

In Norelus v. Denny's, Inc., No. 07-14077, a sexual harassment action, the court affirmed the district court's order sanctioning plaintiff's counsel for attempting to substantially modify plaintiff's deposition testimony where it was entirely reasonable for the district court to conclude that counsel acted with objective recklessness when they created the errata document and then continued to pursue plaintiff's claims after the creation and submission of that document had made her claims untenable.