Articles Posted in Uncategorized

In a significant decision affecting employers, retirement-plan fiduciaries, and employees throughout Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has overturned more than 40 years of precedent governing lawsuits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

On October 13, 2026, the full Eleventh Circuit ruled that employees bringing statutory ERISA claims, including claims alleging breaches of fiduciary duty, are not required by ERISA itself to exhaust their retirement plan’s internal administrative remedies before filing a federal lawsuit.

The decision, Bolton v. Inland Fresh Seafood Corporation of America, Inc., No. 24-10084 (11th Cir. Oct. 13, 2026) (en banc), reverses a longstanding procedural requirement that had distinguished the Eleventh Circuit from most other federal appellate courts. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

Employers have long used the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) as the starting point when an employee requests extended medical leave. A new lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Florida highlights an increasingly important limitation on that approach: when pregnancy or childbirth is involved, an employee who is not eligible for FMLA leave may nevertheless be entitled to leave under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”).

On September 30, 2026, the EEOC announced a lawsuit against Call 4 Health, a medical call center in Delray Beach, Florida. The action, EEOC v. Call 4 Health, Inc., No. 9:26-cv-81333, was filed in the Southern District of Florida, within the Eleventh Circuit. The allegations have not yet been adjudicated. EEOC

What Happened?

A new disability-discrimination settlement from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Atlanta District provides a useful reminder that an employer’s ADA compliance system is only as effective as the supervisors who receive accommodation requests.

On September 23, 2026, the EEOC announced that Exel Inc., doing business as DHL Supply Chain, agreed to pay $80,000 and implement additional remedial measures to resolve an ADA lawsuit involving a temporary employee at its Forest Park, Georgia logistics facility. The case, EEOC v. Exel Inc., Civil Action No. 1:26-cv-01720-ELR-CCB, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia earlier this year. See https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/international-logistics-company-exel-pay-80000-settle-eeoc-disability-lawsuit.

What Happened?

Employees frequently complain to management about “harassment,” unfair treatment, bullying, or a hostile work environment. But a new decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit highlights an important distinction under Title VII: complaining about workplace mistreatment is not necessarily protected activity unless the employee communicates—expressly or implicitly—that the treatment involves unlawful discrimination.

In Lamb v. JG Management Services, Inc., No. 25-12445 (11th Cir. Sept. 16, 2026), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of discrimination and retaliation claims brought by a former employee of an Atlanta-area employer. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca11/25-12445/25-12445-2026-09-16.html. The decision is unpublished, but because the underlying case arose in the Northern District of Georgia and applies established Eleventh Circuit precedent, it offers a timely practical lesson for both employees and employers.

What Happened?

A newly filed federal lawsuit against Amazon puts a recurring workplace problem under the spotlight: what happens when an employer’s ordinary attendance and productivity rules collide with an employee’s need for pregnancy-related accommodations?

On September 8, 2026, four former Amazon warehouse employees filed a proposed nationwide class action in federal court in Brooklyn alleging violations of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”). See .https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/amazon-accused-lawsuit-of-systematic-pregnancy-discrimination-2026-09-08/?utm_source=chatgpt.com. The plaintiffs allege that Amazon failed to adequately accommodate pregnancy-related limitations and, in some instances, penalized employees under attendance or productivity policies for time associated with pregnancy-related medical needs. Amazon denies the allegations and has stated that more than 99.9% of pregnancy-related accommodation requests were approved during the prior year. The allegations have not yet been adjudicated.

The lawsuit is noteworthy because it illustrates how PWFA claims may arise even when an employer has a formal accommodation program—and why employers should examine how accommodations interact with automated or generally applicable attendance policies.

A recent U.S. Department of Labor investigation in Georgia provides a useful reminder that employers generally cannot require employees to attend job-related meetings, orientation, or training and then leave that time off the payroll.

On August 10, 2026, the Department of Labor announced that it had recovered $113,199 in back wages following an investigation of Premier Health Consultants LLC, which operated as St. Joseph Candler Urgent Care in Richmond Hill, Georgia. See USDOL, News Release, “US Department of Labor finds urgent care employer failed to pay over $113K in owed wages to workers for required orientation, meetings, training”, https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20260810 (August 10, 2026).  According to the Department’s Wage and Hour Division, the employer failed to properly compensate employees for required orientation, meetings, training, and other work performed off the clock. The Department also found that the employer suspended an employee who questioned the company’s pay practices.

The investigation highlights two separate—but related—Fair Labor Standards Act risks: failing to capture all compensable working time and retaliating against employees who raise wage concerns.

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 unique challenges, such as a case that starts in one state but later gets transferred to another. If you’ve brought your lawsuit in Georgia — or the other side has successfully gotten your case moved to Georgia — then you need to be sure you have a skilled Georgia lawyer to represent you in your action.

A recruiter who relocated to Georgia was someone in that sort of position. C.J., a Black woman, worked for a company in suburban Detroit. C.J. was very successful at her job and earned a promotion to “field distribution leader.” As part of this new role, C.J. was tasked with launching a new program for the employer in Georgia, so she moved here.

Two years later, the company underwent a round of layoffs. The employer gave the workers two options: apply for one of the remaining positions or take early retirement. C.J. applied for a director role and a specialist job but got neither position, so she sued for age discrimination (Age Discrimination in Employment Act) and race discrimination (Title VII).

Continue reading ›

If you’ve been thinking that you’re probably not getting paid what you’re worth, a new report from the Economic Policy Institute might make you feel validated…or even more frustrated. According to the report, 70% of the US workforce’s inflation-adjusted wages are lower than they were in 2007, with declines in wages at every pay level except the bottom 10% from mid-2013 to mid-2014.

Perhaps the number that will stick out most to middle-class earners (those between the 20th and 80th percentiles) is $18,000. This is the amount of additional annual income the middle-class would have seen in 2007 if wage inequality hadn’t risen between 1979 and 2007. That means the average middle-class household in 2007 should have brought in more than $94,000 instead of the $76,451 it did.

Missing out on almost $20,000 they deserve is enough to make most people seethe, but it actually gets worse once the disparity in the increase of income at various levels is factored in. The average increase between 1979 and 2007 of 53.4% seems like a promising sign until a closer look shows how disproportionate the numbers are. Incomes in the bottom fifth increased by less than 30%, and those in the middle fifth fared even worse with an increase of less than 20%. Even those in the 80-90% range only saw an increase of 39%.

Continue reading ›

A Georgia state court recently dismissed a wage and hour lawsuit on the grounds that the injured parties were unable to state a claim under the Georgia Minimum Wage Law (GMWL).

In Anderson v. Southern Home Care Services, Inc., the injured parties sought to form a class action lawsuit representing all individuals employed in Georgia by the defendant from May 2004 to the present, who provide services to defendant’s clients at their residences, but who were not paid for the time spent traveling between job sites in a given day.  The defendant filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, claiming that the lawsuit was barred by Georgia’s three-year statute of limitations.

First, the court looked at the statute of limitations issue, specifically whether two similar types of litigation applied to this case.  In 2007, another group of care workers brought a lawsuit to recover unpaid wages in Geddis v. Southern Home Care, Inc.  In November of that year, the parties entered into an agreement stating that no statute of limitations on any claim under state or federal wage law would run against members of the class.  The parties eventually reached a settlement in 2011 and the case was dismissed.  Later in 2011, two of the opt-in plaintiffs in the Geddis case filed another class-action suit, and that one settled in 2012.  If the Anderson class-action lawsuit was a part of the Geddis tolling agreement, the statue of limitations would not have run, and the injured parties would not be barred from making a claim.  The state court determined that this was the case. Continue reading ›