This week a federal judge in Connecticut held that an employer violated a medical marijuana user’s rights when it refused to hire her due to a positive drug test. The woman uses medical marijuana, which is legal in Connecticut, to treat her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The woman sued the…
Governor LePage recently signed onto a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court that asks the Court to review and overturn a decision from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals which held that federal law prohibits employment discrimination against transgender workers. The Sixth Circuit’s holding does not apply to…
A federal judge has recently ruled that he had no choice but to dismiss the wage theft claims of thousands of Chipotle employees because of the Supreme Court’s decision from last year in Epic Systems v. Lewis. In order to keep or get their jobs with Chipotle, the company forced…
Earlier this month, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals held that a trial court in Puerto Rico erred when it determined that a worker failed to present sufficient evidence to support her claims of ageist harassment and retaliation. The trial court had thrown the worker’s case out because the…
This past week the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the filing of seven lawsuits alleging unlawful harassment and also the settlement of a harassment case. Two of the lawsuits that the EEOC filed and the one that it settled allege harassment against a class of employees. In the…
Two former Walmart employees in New York have filed a class action against the company under New York’s law that entitles pregnant employees to reasonable accommodations. Under a New York law enacted in 2016, employers must provide pregnant employees with reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related medical conditions, such as changes to…
The Rhode Island ACLU has sued the Newport Grand Casino claiming that the casino paid their client, Paula Borrelli, less because of her gender. Borrelli claims that she learned during a meeting in December 2016 that her male colleague received higher pay than her. She says that she immediately asked…
Last month the Maine Supreme Court struck a blow against medical marijuana users and the marijuana industry in Maine. In the case, a worker who sustained a work-related injury received a prescription for marijuana to treat his pain. Maine’s Workers Compensation Board ordered the employer to cover the cost of…
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is starting a pilot program that will allow some truck drivers under the age of 21 to drive trucks across state lines. In Maine, you can get a commercial driver’s license (CDL) when you are 16 years old but federal regulations require you…
In Minnesota, the legislature is debating a bill that would expand the types of sexual harassment that would violate state law. The bill would overturn court decisions which require sexual harassment to be “severe or pervasive” to be illegal. If passed, this bill would provide a powerful incentive to employers…