Yesterday, the New York City Council passed a bill that prohibits employers from discriminating against applicants because they are unemployed. This bill is reportedly similar to other laws in New Jersey, Oregon, and the District of Columbia except New York City’s law is the first in the nation to permit…
On December 20, 2012, the Maine Employee Rights Group (MERG) secured an important victory for its 14 year old client, Alathea Bushnell. Alathea sought MERG’s assistance because Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) had denied Mainecare coverage for nursing services that she needed due to an uncontrolled seizure…
Last month, the Iowa Supreme Court held that a dentist could discriminate against his dental assistant because he found her irresistibly attractive. The dentist, James Knight, decided to fire his dental assistant, Melissa Nelson, because he was concerned that his attraction for her would lead him to try to have…
This week, Maine began to use a new uniform legal definition for who is an “independent contractor” and who is an “employee.” This distinction is important for purposes of determining whether a worker is entitled to workers compensation, unemployment insurance, overtime pay, and other benefits. While employees are entitled to…
Yesterday, the First Circuit Court of Appeals held that a group of janitors must pursue their claims against the cleaning company that employed them in arbitration, rather than through the court system. The janitors have brought claims against the company, Coverall North America, Inc., because they claim, among other things,…
The Maine State Employees Association (MSEA), which represents employees of the State of Maine, will resume negotiations with the State this week in an attempt to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The last CBA expired about 18 months ago but remains in effect until the…
Yesterday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court held, in a 4-3 decision, that the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA) does not permit victims of employment discrimination to sue the supervisors who discriminated against them. Instead, the Court held that, under the MHRA, employees may only sue their employer for discrimination when…
The former Human Resources Director for Sunbury Medical Associates, in Bangor, claims that the CEO of the firm told her that she should only hire “young women with big boobs.” Afterwards, the CEO allegedly continued to express this desire and make hiring decisions designed to fulfill it. The former HR…
Yesterday, the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) announced that it has established a Third-Party Neutral Mediation Program. The MHRC is the state agency charged with investigating complaints of employment discrimination. Mediation is a process where a neutral mediator attempts to facilitate the resolution of a dispute. In employment cases, the…
One of the most common and difficult issues employees face is when they have family care giving responsibilities that require them to miss some work and their employers refuse to allow them to take sufficient time off to attend to those responsibilities. Most of us are familiar with these types…