Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog

What Conduct Is (And Is Not) Grounds for a Federal Title VII Action in Georgia

September 23, 2015 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Several recent cases decided by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals offer an important lesson to both employers and employees in Georgia when it comes to federal Title VII lawsuits. Namely, the lesson is that there is a wide range of bad behavior that an employer should not condone, even in isolated frequency, but that are still not viable bases for an employee’s Title VII lawsuit. Title VII, as the courts have repeatedly held, does not exist to impose a “general civility code” within the workplace. To be the foundation of a Title VII lawsuit, conduct must be more than isolated incidents, and be more than just rude conduct, but must be a pervasive pattern of harassment that directly ties to the employee’s inclusion in a protected class.

In a case decided earlier this year, a Florida doctor, Cheryl Clark, sued the hospital at which she worked. She accused the chair of her department of discriminating against her as a woman. The chair allegedly told Clark she should not apply for a directorship because was “too confrontational” and “intimidating,” which Clark understood to mean that her conduct was inappropriate for a woman.

Welder’s FMLA Retaliation Case Fails Due to Lack of Proof that Leave Request Triggered Termination

September 16, 2015 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Winning a claim for illegal retaliation against an employee’s request for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act requires several types of proof. One essential ingredient is evidence showing that the employee’s request for leave was (in whole or in part) the cause for his termination. A welding technician’s case fell short because the people he told about his leave request were not among the people who made the decision to terminate his employment, leading the trial court and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to decide that his case lacked this vital proof of a link of causation.

Ed Rudy had worked as a ceramic welding technician for Walter Coke, Inc., a manufacturer of coke used in blast furnaces and foundries, since 2000. In 2009, he missed several months of work due to a back injury. In the summer of 2010, he hurt his back again while moving a 55-pound bag of silica powder. Rudy sought medical attention and was scheduled for a diagnostic imaging procedure in late September. After undergoing the procedure, Rudy told his immediate supervisor that the results were poor and that he would need back surgery.

Employer Not Required to Offer Telecommuting Accommodation to Employee Who Could Not Perform Job’s Essential Functions

September 9, 2015 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

A recent decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed a very important topic within the realm of disability discrimination law: specifically, when is telecommuting a reasonable accommodation for an employee with a disability? In the case of one Ford Motor Co. employee, the Sixth Circuit concluded that the employer’s refusal to allow an employee to telecommute four days per week was not the denial of a reasonable accommodation, but a case of an employee unable to perform the essential functions of her job.

The employee, Jane Harris, was a resale buyer with Ford who had irritable bowel syndrome. Harris’ job performance steadily declined during her time with Ford, in part due to her condition. Ford had occasionally approved telecommuting for Harris, but, even with the accommodation, the employee’s performance continued to worsen.

Employment Status and Your Federal Age Discrimination Case

August 26, 2015 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

A surgeon who sued a hospital after the hospital revoked the doctor’s surgical privileges when the surgeon turned 70 never got the chance to prove the existence of age-based discrimination. Whether or not the hospital made its decision based upon age, the surgeon could not succeed on his Age Discrimination in Employment Act claim. The trial court and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals both concluded that the doctor failed to show that the relationship between the hospital and surgeon was one of employer-employee, not employer-independent contractor. Since independent contractors cannot pursue ADEA claims, the doctor’s case failed.

Moshe Ashkenazi was a surgeon who provided on-call services at the South Broward Hospital District. After the hospital revoked his privileges, the doctor sued. The septuagenarian surgeon claimed that the decision to revoke his privileges was the result of age discrimination. The hospital asked for summary judgment in the case. Ashkenazi, it argued, could not mount a successful age discrimination case because he was an independent contractor, not an employee of the hospital. The trial court agreed and ruled for the hospital.

Employee Can Use Information Submitted Post-Termination to Prove Part of FMLA Case

August 19, 2015 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

In a noteworthy decision from this past June, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a judgment in favor of an employer in an employee’s Family and Medical Leave Act lawsuit. The appeals court decision clarified that, when it came to establishing whether or not the employee had a serious medical condition as required by the law, all of the evidence should be considered, regardless of when the employee provided that information to the employer. The fact that the employer had already terminated the employee when she handed over certain doctors’ forms was irrelevant to deciding whether those forms proved the employee had the required serious medical condition entitling her to FMLA leave.

The employee in the case, Regina White, worked for Beltram Edge Tool Supply, Inc., a food industry service provider. In 2010, White hurt her knee, but the injury was not so serious that she could not continue working. Near the end of the year, White’s health caused her to begin missing work, but that absence was unrelated to her knee injury. During that five-week absence, she reinjured her knee.

Christian Campus Ministry Allowed to Terminate Employee for Marital Problems, Sixth Circuit Says

August 12, 2015 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Most employers and employees are aware that churches may legally make certain hiring and firing decisions that would otherwise be impermissible if the employer were not a religious institution. But what about religion-related employers that are not churches or church-based entities? In a very noteworthy case for Tennessee employers and employees, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an entity dedicated to collegiate campus ministry could terminate a “spiritual director” for failing to repair her failing marriage.

The case arose after InterVarsity Christian Fellowship terminated Alyce Conlon in 2011. Conlon had worked as a spiritual director for the evangelical entity since 2004, but in 2011, she confided in her supervisors that she and her husband were contemplating divorcing. The fellowship put her on leave for the purpose of working to salvage her marriage. By December, with the employee’s marriage still on the rocks, InterVarsity terminated Conlon. Conlon’s husband filed for divorce a month later.

Eleventh Circuit Decides Employer Lacked Knowledge of Employee’s Disability

August 5, 2015 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

A nursing home employee, who was pursuing her employer for multiple forms of discrimination and retaliation, lost in her effort to revive her disability discrimination claim on appeal. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that an employer’s mere knowledge that an employee had visited a doctor and that the doctor had advised the patient she could not return to work “until further notice” was not enough to prove that the employer knew the employee had a disability.

The employee, Portia Surtain, worked at Hamlin Place of Boynton Beach, a nursing home in South Florida. During her employment, Surtain submitted a request for medical leave. The employer, aware that Surtain had visited a doctor for “unknown health reasons” and that the doctor had advised her to stay away from work until further notice, terminated the employee.

Woman Wins Workplace Discrimination Action in US Supreme Court After Her Muslim Attire Clashed With Company Dress Code

July 22, 2015 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

In an important ruling on what federal law requires of employers when it comes to accommodation of religious practice, the US Supreme Court ruled that a retail clothing store impermissibly discriminated against a Muslim teen when it decided that her hijab violated its company dress code and refused to hire her. The ruling makes clear that employers cannot violate the law even if employees do not explicitly ask for accommodations of their religious practice and even if the employer does not know (but merely suspects) that an employee will need an accommodation, as long as that religion-based accommodation was a motive in the employer’s action.

Samantha Elauf, when she was 17, did what many teens do. She went to a local shopping mall and applied for a sales job. In Elauf’s case, her targeted employer was an Abercrombie Kids store in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At her employment interview, the teen wore a black head scarf. She did not state why she wore the piece, and the employer did not ask.

6th Cir.: Employee’s Testimony Alone Enough to Defeat Summary Judgment in Unpaid Overtime Case

July 15, 2015 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

A recent ruling regarding an auto shop employee’s unpaid overtime claim creates an outcome that is potentially beneficial to Tennessee employees but worrisome to Tennessee employers. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that an employee’s uncorroborated testimony, even in the absence of any additional supporting evidence, may be enough to create a dispute of fact and defeat an employer’s attempt to end the case via summary judgment.

The dispute centered around the hours worked by Jeffrey Moran, an employee at Auto Pro auto repair shop in Warren, Mich. According to the employee, he agreed to work during all of the shop’s operating hours, which spanned six days and 58 hours. In exchange, the employer agreed to pay Moran $300 per week plus “bonus-type profit sharing.”

Federal Appeals Court Allows Georgia Schoolteacher to Pursue FMLA Claim Following Termination

July 8, 2015 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta issued a ruling that will likely make it easier for Georgia public school employees to pursue lawsuits against their employers for violations of federal employment laws like the Family and Medical Leave Act. The ruling concluded that public school districts are not “arms of the state” government, which means that they are not immune from federal employment actions, such as the FMLA case launched by a Georgia high school teacher who was terminated for her use of FMLA leave to deal with the effects of her sickle cell anemia.

The case involved the termination of Zaneta Lightfoot from her job with the Henry County School District south of Atlanta. Lightfoot began as an English and drama teacher, and cheerleading coach, at Woodland High School in 2007. The teacher had sickle cell anemia, which caused her to experience bouts of extreme pain and weakness. Lightfoot asked for and received permission to take intermittent periods off from work under FMLA when her condition made working untenable during the 2010-11 school year.