In an important new ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court recently clarified the standards under which a worker does (or does not) qualify as a salaried exempt employee for purposes of overtime compensation. The 6-3 decision in favor of an oil rig worker clarifies that just because an employee earns a…
Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog
Your Administrative Charge, Your Georgia Discrimination Suit, and What Happens if You Encounter Retaliation After You File With the EEOC
In cases of employment discrimination and retaliation, the worker’s ability to pursue that claim in court depends on more than just the strength of the factual evidence he/she has. The law imposes certain requirements that, if not satisfied, can completely derail the worker’s case. One of these is something called…
The Impact of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Break Rules on Georgia Employees Who Work from Home
Today, remote work is more common than ever before, with much of explosion coming in the last 2-3 years. With that vast growth of people working from home comes new and different ways that employers can run afoul of federal wage and hour laws. If you’re a non-exempt employee working…
An FLSA Class Action, Collective Action, or Individual Action: Which One Makes the Most Sense for My Unpaid Overtime Claim?
If your employer has denied you overtime pay that you earned, you potentially have several possible legal options. You can seek compensation individually, you can initiate a class action, or you can pursue a collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Determining which avenue makes the most sense can…
My Employment Discrimination Case Just Got Moved to Georgia from Out of State. Now What?
Ours is a national and, in many cases, global economy. The realities of the world of work often include job changes or promotions that necessarily include relocation to a new state. If that’s happened to you and you’ve also suffered discrimination on the job, your case potential can present some…
What Happens if My Employer Takes an Automatic Pay Deduction for Meal Breaks But I Did Not Actually Get My Break?
In wage and hour law, as with any area of the law, there are issues that arise with elevated frequency at certain moments in time. (For example, a few years ago the courts saw a flurry of employee-versus-independent-contractor misclassification cases involving exotic dancers.) More recently, an issue before multiple different…
The FLSA, the Agriculture Exemption, and a Class Action by ‘Independent’ Poultry Farmers Alleging Misclassification
An ongoing case in federal court in Macon represents a potentially important data point in an emerging area of Fair Labor Standards Act misclassification litigation: lawsuits between big agribusiness entities and the farmers with whom they work. These farmers are typically classified by the agribusiness companies as independent contractors, but…
When Misusing “Sir,” “Ma’am,” and Gendered Pronouns Will — and Won’t — Amount to Gender Identity Discrimination Under Title VII
Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that employment discrimination based on workers’ sexual orientations or gender identities constituted violations of Title VII. Since that time, the exact extent of federal law’s protection against gender identity discrimination remains an issue that is still developing. Whether you’re a worker who…
Disability Accommodations, Interactive Processes, and What Constitutes ‘Thwarting’ Those Processes
Every successful disability discrimination case necessarily involves several essential ingredients. You have to have suffered from a qualifying disability. You must have made a request that was sufficiently specific to put your employer on notice that you were seeking a disability accommodation. You also must have engaged in the interactive…
A Georgia Employer Agrees to Pay $47K After Allegedly Failing to Accommodate a Worker’s Lung Disease and Elevate Risk of Contracting COVID-19
As we enter the holiday season this year, one thing for which we can be thankful is that most of us generally can celebrate the season with many fewer restrictions as compared to two years ago. Even as COVID-19 has dissipated from its 2020 worst, the virus (and complications from…