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Tim K. Garrett

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Tim Garrett helps employers solve complex issues related to all aspects of labor and employment law, providing in depth counseling and developing creative solutions to underlying business issues. He is an experienced trial lawyer, defending employers of all sizes in employment litigation claims across the country. His work has ranged from defending a major university during a significant wage and hour collective action involving thousands of employees to the successful defense of a major healthcare provider in a gender discrimination / retaliation case. In addition, Tim has served as nationwide labor and employment counsel for the largest nonprofit dialysis company in the U.S.

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A trucking company has a practice of not returning any trucker to a driver position if that trucker has admitted to being an alcoholic, even if the trucker completes a treatment program. The EEOC sued on behalf of a trucker and challenged this practice. In this instance, however, the trucker did not complete a treatment program. He explained that he did not complete a program since it would be futile – he could not get his job back anyway.

In a recent ruling, a District Judge in Arkansas ruled that the trucking company’s practice of automatic disqualification of the alcoholic trucker violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The Court ruled that a jury will have to decide the merits of the specific driver’s claim, but the Court entered an injunction against the trucking company from further use of its practice. EEOC v. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (W.D. Ark. June 24, 2013) found here.
Continue Reading EEOC Continues Attack on Employer Practices that “Automatically” Disqualify

An employer received a report of a manager harassing his subordinates. The employer appears to take all the right steps: 1) conducting an investigation; 2) involving several higher-level managers in the decision-making process; and 3) even hiring an outside law firm to assist it in deciding what discipline to impose.

BUT, months later, after the manager had been suspended and had his pay docked (a “fine”), the employer has fired the manager (yet he still qualified for a large bonus), the manager’s assistant has resigned, the manager’s supervisor has resigned, another high ranking official with the employer has resigned and the employer is in the midst of a public relations nightmare.Continue Reading Seemingly “Right” Process Cannot Save “Wrong Result”

The Seventh Circuit recently held that a purchaser in an “asset deal” of a business in receivership was found to be a successor employer for the purposes of a $500,000 wage/hour settlement. The liability was imposed on the purchaser even though the contract formalizing the asset deal expressly excluded that liability. Teed v. Thomas & Betts Power Solutions, LLC. Found here.
Continue Reading Successor Liability in “Asset Deal” Extends to Wage/Hour Liability

The Department of Labor recently issued new FMLA regulations. The new regulations will take effect March 8, 2013. The regulations will have limited impact on most employers. However, the new regulations will require employers to obtain and post a new poster with the revised language contained in the regulations.

The other, more substantive impact is…

The EEOC recently announced two multi-million dollar settlements relating to the targeted employers leave of absence practices. In November, the EEOC announced a $4.5m settlement with Interstate Distributor Company, based on claims that the trucking company did not provide reasonable accommodation to scores of employees who were terminated upon exhausting available leave time. The EEOC claimed that the company’s practice of automatically terminating employees after exhausting a set amount of leave without any interactive discussions with the employee, along with an alleged “no restrictions” policy violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Similarly, on December 18 (the same day that the EEOC announced its strategic plan), the EEOC announced a $2m settlement with Dillard’s Inc. based on similar allegations. There, Dillard’s was accused not only of having a practice of terminating employees after a specific period of leave but also of having a practice of seeking specific medical information from an employee seeking sick leave. According to the EEOC, these practices violated the ADA.Continue Reading EEOC Continues Aggressive Look at Employer Leave Policies

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has approved its strategic plan for fiscal years 2013 to 2016 to set the agency’s national enforcement priorities. The Plan identifies the following six national priorities: eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring; protecting immigrant, migrant, and other vulnerable workers; addressing emerging and developing employment discrimination issues; enforcing equal pay…

The EEOC recently issued guidance on how an employer’s stereotypical responses to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking could run afoul of the discrimination laws. The guidance gives some examples which, to the savvy employer, may appear obvious examples of inappropriate (and unlawful) stereotyping. However, the guidance is worth the read. Why? A…

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), employers face significant challenges in understanding how much information from an employee is considered sufficient to trigger the employer’s duty to follow up. Courts have routinely found that minimal information will trigger an employer’s duty to ask if the employee needs leave and the corresponding duty to seek more information to determine if the FMLA applies. Knowledgeable employers know that an employee does not have to use any “magic language” and does not have to even mention the FMLA or even a need for “leave.” Rather, the employee must provide sufficient information “for an employer to reasonably determine whether the FMLA may apply.”

Some recent decisions address this important issue. In a recent case decided in Michigan, Byron v. St. Mary’s Medical Center, U.S. District Court – Eastern District Michigan, Sept 11, 2012, an employee’s telling her supervisor that she was “too sick to work” and was “going to the emergency room” were sufficient comments to put the employer on notice that the FMLA may be in play. Interestingly, the employer noted that although the employee had pancreatitis, her absences were never more than three consecutive days, meaning that the absences did not qualify anyway. However, the Court noted that given the condition, and the employer’s duty to gather more information, the employer would have learned that the condition was such that her not obtaining treatment would have led to absences in excess of the three-days requirement.Continue Reading FMLA – What Information is Sufficient to Trigger Employer’s Duty to Follow Up

Some recent court rulings have referred to the “cat’s paw theory” of liability for discrimination. Employers should be aware of these recent decisions because:

  • Employers can be held liable under this theory, even if there is no evidence that the ultimate decision-maker acted in a discriminatory manner;
  • Supervisors who wrongly influence a termination decision can be personally liable in a race case under Section 1981; and
  • This is a terminated employee’s answer to the employer-friendly “honest belief” rule.

Continue Reading Cat’s Paw Theory: What Is It? Why Should I Care?

A Tennessee federal judge recently ruled that a termination notice referring to an employee’s “long-term disability” was direct evidence of discrimination and retaliation.  The Court granted the employee judgment as a matter of law under the ADA.

The employee, Coffman, had been off work on an extended medical leave.  She had exhausted her FMLA leave and remained off work due to restrictions.  Coffman refused a job offer of a sedentary job.  Notes from Coffman’s physician indicated that the refusal was unreasonable, but the employer did not obtain those notes until after it had fired Coffman.  At the time, the Company accepted her refusal of the sedentary job and kept her on leave. 
Continue Reading Termination Notice Referring to Disability Considered Direct Evidence of Discrimination

From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network
From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network

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