An investigator with the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has reportedly found that Kennebec Valley Community Action Program (KVCAP) discriminated against a hearing impaired employee, violating the disability discrimination provisions of the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA). The hearing impaired employee, Agnes Farnsworth, provided transportation to KVCAP clients, who were…
BJ’s Wholesale Club and the representatives of a class of BJ’s Wholesale employees reportedly informed a federal court in Massachusetts earlier this month that they had reached a settlement agreement on the employees’ claims that BJ’s failed to pay them overtime. The class of BJ’s employees included loss prevention managers,…
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) updated its guidance to employers and employees on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The new guidance defines the term spouse under the FMLA as “a husband or wife as defined or recognized under state law for purposes of marriage…
Last month, a state court in New Jersey ruled that a casino’s policy of requiring waitresses to stay below a certain weight was not sex discrimination. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa had a policy which prohibited waitresses, called “Borgata Babes,” from gaining more than 7 percent of the amount…
One aspect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (aka “Obamacare”) that has been in the news recently is the provision of the law that requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees (defined as employees who work 30 or more hours per week or 130 hours per…
General Dynamics announced in April 2013 that it planned to lay off 110 employees in Saco, Maine – about one-third of its work force – beginning on June 14, 2013 and continuing through July 1, 2013. Those laid off were to include salaried and hourly-wage employees who were involved in…
Last week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held for the first time under Massachusetts law that an employer may not discriminate against an employee because of that employee’s association with a disabled person. In Flagg v. Alimed, Inc., Alimed fired Marc Flagg after 18 years of service to the company…
Earlier this year, the Maine Department of Labor issued a report on the number of workplace deaths in Maine in 2011, the most recent year of available data. The report showed that more people died in the workplace during 2011 than during any year since 2003. In 2011, workers died…
Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP Committee) voted to approve the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). ENDA would make employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity illegal. ENDA passed with bi-partisan support. All of the Democrats on the HELP Committee voted for it…
Earlier this week, the Maine Supreme Court held that the City of Augusta could not evade its obligation under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to pay for retired firefighters’ health insurance. The City had argued that it could stop paying the premiums on this insurance because the CBA had expired.…