Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Tim Garrett discussed the implications of the ruling holding responsible the University of Connecticut Health Center for the sexual harassment of an employee by a fellow co-worker. In the ruling, the court found that the University of Connecticut Health Center did not take proper steps to alert supervisors of the co-workers prior harassment history which, therefore, prevented the supervisors from properly monitoring his behavior and allowed the misbehavior to occur. According to Tim, “While employers likely can’t monitor their staff at all times and eliminate all workplace harassment, they likely need to have a ‘heightened sense of awareness’ when an employee has been disciplined in the past, and companies will have a greater responsibility to monitor and investigate any allegations in those situations.”
Continue Reading UConn Health System Found Liable for Clinician’s Sexual Harassment
I provided an update on the August 2017 decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that a picketing worker from Cooper Tire should not have been fired for yelling racist insults at a busload of African-American replacement workers. The Eighth Circuit’s decision affirmed the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision that the company violated the law when it refused to reinstate the worker and ordered the company to reinstate the picketing worker with full back pay. In the article, I outline the case background and the various appeals, ending with analysis of the most recent decision.
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Doug Dahl provides an update regarding the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule, which sets forth when an individual becomes a fiduciary by providing investment advice to employer retirement plans. While the final rule was released in April 2016, numerous delays have postponed entire implementation until July 2019. Until then, Doug recommends employers consider the following:
In an article for the October 2017 issue of The Corporate Counselor, Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Tim Garrett examined the latest ruling related to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) overtime rule following Texas Federal Judge Amos Mazzant’s final rule striking down the Obama-era rule. If implemented, the rule would more than double the minimum salary that employers would have to pay “white-collar” workers to meet overtime pay exemptions. Judge Mazzant’s final ruling cited that the DOL rule had made the salary level too high and that the exemption would inadvertently become based on pay and not duties of the position. Following the ruling, the DOL withdrew its appeal of the preliminary injunction and the Fifth Circuit granted the request.
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney