Category: Florida BAR article

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit made a decision saying that under the ADA, an employee with a disability can get a new job even if there’s a better qualified person for it. This decision is seen as a win for employees with disabilities, but it raises concerns about how employees with…

The issue in Florida was whether a public employer had to talk to a union before deciding to hire another company to do the work of union employees. The Florida Public Employees Relations Commission decided that the employer did not have to ask the union before making this decision. In the case of the Amalgamated…

In the world of lawsuits between employers and employees, there is a big protected group of people who can’t be punished for speaking up about civil rights or illegal activity at work. It’s not always clear what counts as retaliation or who is covered. Recent legal decisions even protect people who don’t work for the…

Delfina Montes worked for Shearson, Lehman Brothers, Inc. and was terminated. She believed she deserved overtime pay and filed a lawsuit. Shearson wanted the case to go to arbitration instead. This decision reestablished the rule of law in arbitration and helps both employers and employees. During the arbitration, Montes showed evidence that she was made…

The law recognizes that some emotional distress is part of life, and only intervenes if it’s really bad. In employment lawsuits, people often claim emotional distress and the defendant may want access to their medical records. They might also ask for a mental examination to see if the distress is real. As a lawyer, you…

Noncompete agreements are becoming more common as companies try to protect their business interests from employees moving to competitors. These agreements can have serious consequences for employees, so it’s important to have a lawyer review the agreement before signing it. In Florida, noncompete agreements must be in writing and signed by the employee to be…

For employment lawyers, the way discrimination cases are resolved has changed a lot in the past few years. Summary judgment, which means a case can be decided without a trial, is now used a lot more often. This means it’s really important for lawyers to quickly figure out if a discrimination case has a good…

The previous article talked about who has to prove what in a case where someone is asking for an accommodation under the ADA. This article focuses on what the person asking for the accommodation has to prove and gives some guidelines for how the burden of proof is divided between the parties. In one court…

For almost 20 years, the McDonnell Douglas case has provided guidelines for proving discrimination in employment under the Civil Rights Act. These guidelines have also been used for discrimination cases under the Americans With Disabilities Act, which requires accommodating disabled individuals. However, the burden shifting in McDonnell Douglas doesn’t work well for cases where accommodation…

Joel used cocaine at work and was given the choice to quit instead of getting fired. His former employer has a policy not to rehire people who were fired or quit for breaking company rules, but Joel sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act because he has an addiction. Hernandez applied for a job at…

In the case Toyota Motor Mfg., Ky., Inc. v. Williams, the Supreme Court decided that in order to qualify as a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a person’s physical impairment must significantly limit their ability to do important daily tasks that most people do. This means that only a limited number of…