Van Kampen Law PC triumphs as Morgan Stanley's bias award dispute heads to NC. A legal battle unfolds. Read more on Law360.
Read moreThe U.S. Supreme Court's decision reviving a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission religious bias suit against Abercrombie & Fitch Stores Inc. closed what could have been a legal loophole that would have given some employers a green light to plead ignorance in religious accommodation cases.
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"Proving employment discrimination in federal court is one of the hardest things you can undertake,” Josh Van Kampen, founder of Charlotte, North Carolina-based plaintiff's employment firm Van Kampen PC, said of Judge Niemeyer's “widespread litigation” forecast.
Read MoreLaw360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2014 Employment editorial advisory board. The purpose of the editorial advisory board is to get feedback on Law360's coverage and to gain insight from experts in the field on how best to shape future coverage.
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Hot-button issues like sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace, the treatment of pregnant employees and medical marijuana use aren't just grabbing headlines, but they're also raising questions that can puzzle even seasoned attorneys. Law360 asked experts to identify the biggest open questions about employment discrimination law and offer some suggestions to help businesses address them.
Read MoreLaw360, New York (March 24, 2016) - A hastily enacted North Carolina law that undid a Charlotte anti-discrimination ordinance that in part allowed transgender people to use the restroom of their choice could potentially limit access to state courts for employees trying to pursue a wide range of discrimination claims, including those related to race and gender, plaintiffs attorneys say.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Labor's newly proposed rule to expand overtime pay protections won plaudits from worker advocates, but some management-side lawyers warned the final version could contain changes to the duties tests for overtime eligibility.
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Law360, New York - When the Fourth Circuit ruled this week that barring a transgender male student from the boys' bathroom in Virginia violates federal education law, it forecast a defeat over North Carolina's already notorious discrimination law. Among its many provisions, H.B. 2 restricts transgender people's access to public restrooms, which, if enforced in schools, experts say could cost North Carolina $4.5 billion in federal funding.
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A Ninth Circuit ruling Tuesday requiring a company accused of gender discrimination to give the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission the personal information of employees who took a strength test may embolden the agency to pursue more aggressive investigations and raises privacy concerns, management-side attorneys say.
Read MoreJosh Van Kampen said he expected that some employers' ignorance of or willingness to flout the new requirements would set them up as “low- hanging fruit” for future wage-hour plaintiffs. “Notwithstanding our management colleagues' attempts to train on this, there are going to be scores of employers who are just caught flat-footed and don't do anything at all,” Van Kampen said.
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The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to review a donning-and-doffing case against Tyson Foods Inc. gives the justices a chance to both make class actions tougher to pursue by curtailing the use of statistical sampling to support certification, and announce if and how the high court's landmark Dukes ruling applies to Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions.
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As the number of Fair Labor Standards Act complaints filed in U.S. federal courts continues to climb, attorneys say the more modest growth in new cases over the past few years could be chalked up to aggressive efforts by major employers to improve their payment systems, keep a close eye on managers and never let their guard down.
Read MoreRobinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA and Van Kampen Law fired back Thursday against a black female attorney's court filing accusing the law firm of using racial stereotypes in its efforts to escape her bias suit against it, saying the attorney "caustically embellishes the most outlandish allegations of her complaint."
Read MoreLaw360, New York - A hastily enacted North Carolina law that undid a Charlotte anti-discrimination ordinance that in part allowed transgender people to use the restroom of their choice could potentially limit access to state courts for employees trying to pursue a wide range of discrimination claims, including those related to race and gender, plaintiffs attorneys say.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Justice's recent refusal to throw its weight behind National Labor Relations Board precedent in a U.S. Supreme Court battle over the legality of mandatory arbitration agreements with class waivers added new obstacles for the NLRB in defending the position.
Read MoreLaw360, New York - A North Carolina federal judge concluded Friday that the state’s recent reduction of the statute of limitations for certain wrongful discharge claims, which stemmed from the now-infamous law limiting transgender individuals’ access to public facilities, can’t retroactively be used to kill a claim that would have been timely absent the change.
Read MoreLaw360, New York (July 5, 2016) -- North Carolina lawmakers have largely left intact a controversial transgender bathroom law that blocks local governments from granting civil rights protections to LGBT individuals, but restored the ability to sue for discriminatory termination in state courts and gave workers one year to bring such claims.
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The battering that Hurricane Florence dealt to the southeastern United States should serve as a fresh reminder to employers that advance planning is an important aspect of dealing with the chaos that nature can cause. See what the experts are saying employers should keep in mind when dealing with a natural disaster.
Read MoreSharika M. Robinson, who joined the Carolinas-based Robinson Bradshaw as an associate in 2015, accused the firm in her suit last month of engaging in a pattern of gender and racial discrimination that belies its public marketing to prospective clients and employees as being committed to diversity and inclusion.
Read MoreNorth Carolina law protected a construction worker from retaliation when he called out a colleague's on-duty intoxication, the Fourth Circuit said Thursday in a ruling clarifying protections for workers who report safety concerns internally rather than to state authorities.
Read MoreThe U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that BNSF Railway Co. can’t be sued in Montana by two out-of-state employees who weren’t injured there, giving large corporations more control over the jurisdictions.
Read MoreVan Kampen Law PC triumphs as Morgan Stanley's bias award dispute heads to NC. A legal battle unfolds. Read more on Law360.
Read MoreBy: David Donovan When North Carolina’s lawmakers hurried HB2 through the legislature, it originally contained a provision that prohibited workers from suing their former employers under state law for cases of wrongful termination based on discrimination. That provision raised concerns from attorneys.
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