Atlanta Employment Attorneys Blog

TSA Defeats a Race Discrimination Claim Arising from Its Investigation into an Allegation of Sexual Harassment

December 28, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

A few years ago, Harvard University conducted a poll about discrimination. The results revealed that 57% of African-American workers “reported discrimination in pay and consideration for promotions.” While the denial of promotions based on a candidate’s race remains a serious problem, it is also true that some denials of promotions to minority candidates are the result of legitimate, non-discriminatory standards and decision-making. Whether you’re a worker who has experienced a racially discriminatory denial of a promotion, or you’re an employer facing a misguided claim of discriminatory conduct, a knowledgeable Atlanta race discrimination lawyer can help you address your situation promptly and effectively.

A recent race discrimination case that originated here in Atlanta provides an example of the latter of the two possibilities above. The worker, P.D., was an African-American man who worked for the Transportation Security Administration’s Atlanta field office as a supervisory air marshal. In 2016, he applied for two higher-lever positions — one in Atlanta and one in Miami. The TSA awarded the positions to two white employees in February 2017.

One month later, anonymous coworkers at the Atlanta office alleged that P.D. had engaged in a years-long pattern of rampant sexual harassment of female coworkers. The marshal sexually harassed women at “every level” of the Atlanta office and also retaliated against women who rebuffed his advances, according to the letter. The TSA’s investigation into the allegations found that the marshal engaged in misconduct.

Exotic Dancers and Employment Classification: What a Series of FLSA Cases Can Teach, Even if Yours is Not an ‘Adult’ Business

December 22, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

One of the emerging areas in Fair Labor Standards Act litigation centers on the misclassification of exotic dancers. Several groups of dancers have successfully sued clubs for illegally misclassifying them as independent contractors instead of employees. While this industry may be relatively small, these misclassification cases hold significance for more than just adult entertainment clubs and the dancers who perform in them. The question of “independent contractor or employee” is a crucial one in many lines of work and misclassification can have extremely deleterious consequences. If you have questions about independent-contractor-or-employee classification, contact a knowledgeable Atlanta worker classification lawyer to get the answers you need.

One local club in Northeast Atlanta is facing FLSA litigation… and it isn’t their first time. Last month, a group of four dancers sued the club seeking recovery for “unpaid wages and overtime compensation, interest, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs” under the FLSA.

A decade ago, that same club settled a previous FLSA lawsuit, agreeing to pay a class of 73 dancers more than $1.5 million. In that case, the club classified the dancers as independent contractors and the dancers’ compensation consisted solely of the tips they received. Additionally, the club charged its dancers various fees to perform at the establishment.

FMLA Leave, Interference Claims, and When the Law Does (and Doesn’t) Require Employers to Give Workers Notice of Their FMLA Rights and Responsibilities

December 15, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

The Family and Medical Leave Act provides several rights and imposes several responsibilities on employees and employers alike. It is important to be keenly cognizant of these rights and responsibilities, as failure to do so can be extremely costly. If you have questions about your FMLA rights and/or responsibilities, don’t hesitate to contact an experienced Atlanta FMLA lawyer to get the knowledgeable answers you need.

Late last month, we looked at an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals case of a South Florida writer and producer and some of the details regarding the law of “associational discrimination.” In the context of the Americans With Disabilities Act, associational discrimination occurs when your employer discriminates against you because you are “associated” with “someone who has significant medical needs” and for whom you “may need to provide care.”

The producer’s case is noteworthy for more than just the illumination it shone on associational discrimination, however. It also serves as an important reminder about the mechanics of the procedural requirements imposed by the FMLA.

The Consequences of Employees Working Off the Clock

December 8, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

Workers can encounter many forms of misconduct that amount to violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. One of these issues relates to work performed off the clock. Whether you are an employee or an employer, if you have questions about unpaid hours and the FLSA, be sure to get in touch with an experienced Atlanta wage and hour lawyer to understand thoroughly your rights and responsibilities.

A major insurance company — whose CGI mascot is widely popular and seemingly ubiquitous on some television sports broadcasts — has found itself accused of multiple FLSA violations in the last few years, with the most recent action proceeding just to our south in the Middle District of Georgia federal court.

The employees were sales representatives who worked in the insurer’s call center in Macon. They alleged that the employer improperly forced them to perform essential job-related tasks before or after hours or during breaks, including booting up and shutting down their computers, responding to emails during meal periods, and staying late if their computer terminals malfunctioned during the day.

The ADA and ‘Associational Discrimination’ Claims Under Federal Law

November 29, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

The Americans With Disabilities Act makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees or job candidates who have qualifying disabilities. The law also, however, protects workers from employment discrimination arising as a result of their association with someone who has a disability, even if the worker is not disabled in any way. If you think you’ve been the target of associational discrimination — or you’re an employer facing this kind of assertion — you should speak to a knowledgeable Atlanta disability discrimination lawyer, who can help you better understand your rights and options.

An associational discrimination case under the ADA proceeds much like other federal discrimination claims. The worker must first establish that she has a prima facie case of discrimination and, if she does so, the employer must present a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for the negative action it took against the worker. If both of those things happen, the law shifts the burden back to the worker to demonstrate that the employer’s stated reason was really just a pretext for its discriminatory motive.

As a recent ADA case from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals demonstrates, it’s important to understand that simply because an adverse employment action follows closely after the employer discovers a worker’s association with a person with disabilities, that alone won’t establish a winning associational discrimination case.

The Many Details That Go Into Successfully Settling a FLSA Lawsuit in Georgia

November 22, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

In a lot of civil cases, settling the matter is pretty straightforward. The parties will work out mutually agreeable terms, someone will prepare a written settlement agreement, and barring exceptional circumstances, the court will accept the settlement and dismiss the case. FLSA cases — and settlements — are a bit different and somewhat more complicated. There is a wider array of situations where, even if the parties have genuinely agreed, the court may reject a settlement. Working with a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer can enhance your odds of avoiding this kind of money and time-consuming situation.

When parties to a FLSA case filed in a federal court in Georgia, Florida, or Alabama seek to settle, they must comply with what the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in the 1982 case of Lynn’s Food Stores, Inc. v. United States. The Lynn’s Food ruling says that any acceptable settlement must be a “fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute over FLSA issues.”

One example of a settlement executed correctly comes from the federal court in Orlando, Florida. The employee was a handyman who worked for a local social services organization for two years and two months. During that time, the handyman allegedly worked more than 40 hours a week on several occasions. Despite this, the employer never paid him overtime compensation, according to his complaint.

The Importance of Following Your Employer’s ‘Usual and Customary’ Procedures for Requesting FMLA Leave

November 15, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

The law imposes on employers numerous requirements when it comes to the Family and Medical Leave Act. Employers would be wise to ensure they have established clear procedures for allowing workers to seek leave, and then carefully document those requests. Workers, similarly, should take care to follow their employers’ established procedures for requesting FMLA leave, as a failure to follow those steps may be harmful to a future FMLA lawsuit. For answers to your FMLA questions, be sure you are consulting with a knowledgeable Atlanta FMLA leave lawyer.

In terms of following leave request procedures, an FMLA interference case from Gwinnett County is instructive.

The worker, I.K., was a store manager at a warehouse club store in Duluth when, in 2018, she became pregnant and had a baby. In the fall of that same year, she injured her back while moving a pallet of merchandise.

How a Georgia Employer’s Methods for Paying Workers Ultimately Cost It Tens of Thousands of Dollars

November 8, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

What started as a dispute over a few hundred dollars ended with an Atlanta-area employer paying nearly $40,000. That outcome is a useful lesson to employers on several fronts. One, always maintain legally compliant pay records, including pay rates, hours worked, and sums paid. Two, always make sure that you are paying your non-exempt workers proper time-and-a-half overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week. And three, if you feel the urge to pay wages that you owe under the Fair Labor Standards Act in a way that smacks of revenge… don’t. Just issue a check and move on. It’ll be cheaper and better for your business in the long run. If you have any questions about your rights and responsibilities under the FLSA, make sure you consult with a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer.

The original dispute, which received relatively broad coverage as a result of its peculiar facts, pitted a Peachtree City auto repair shop against one of its former employees. The disagreement began after the employee, A.F., contacted the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division to complain that his employer had not paid him his final paycheck, which amounted to $915.

Rather than simply cutting a check, the employer obtained 91,500 pennies, covered them in automotive fluids, and then delivered them to A.F.’s driveway. To remove doubts regarding motivation, the employer stuffed the man’s pay stub in an envelope with “[expletive] you!” written on the outside. The pile of pennies weighed more than 500 pounds and took more than seven hours to remove from the man’s driveway.

What the ADA Does (and Doesn’t) Require of Employers When It Comes to Fringe Benefits and Former Employees

October 31, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

As an employee or an employer, you undoubtedly understand that the totality of the “terms and conditions” of employment extends beyond just the basics like salary. Fringe benefits, especially things like health insurance coverage and retirement, can represent extremely important terms of employment. Discrimination related to fringe benefits potentially may entitle a worker to take legal action… but the viability of that worker’s lawsuit may depend on whether the discrimination occurred during or after the worker’s period of employment. If you have questions about discrimination and fringe benefits, make sure you’re getting the knowledgeable answers you need by talking to an experienced Atlanta disability discrimination lawyer.

A recent disability discrimination case originating in federal court in Florida is a reminder of the importance of this distinction between alleged discrimination that occurs during employment versus post-employment.

The worker, K.S., was a firefighter for a local government from 1999 to 2018. On Nov. 1, 2018, she took disability retirement at age 47 as a result of her Parkinson’s Disease.

An Unpaid Overtime Case from Atlanta Sheds Light on the Importance of Keeping Good Pay Records

October 24, 2023 | Parks, Chesin & Walbert

An Atlanta wrecker and towing service found itself in court after two drivers accused it of illegally failing to pay them the overtime compensation they were properly due under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The court’s summary judgment ruling in the case includes vital lessons for employers when it comes to the importance of maintaining clear and thorough pay records, as well as the risks involved in handing off FLSA compliance to a third party. If you’re facing an unpaid overtime claim (or pursuing one,) representation from a knowledgeable Atlanta wage and hour lawyer can be essential to your success.

The drivers typically worked 4-5 12-hour shifts each week. The employer paid its driver a straight commission weekly that was “calculated as a percentage of the total revenue they derived from the tows they performed that week.” For one driver that percentage was 30%, for the other it was 35%.

As noted above keeping clear, understandable, and accurate time and pay records for all employees can be crucial to any business.