Workplace Law Report Index-Summary

HANDBILLING

HANDBOOKS, EMPLOYEE

– FMLA liability based in contract, promissory estoppel claim revived for claimant who relied on handbook promise, letters, but was deemed ineligible under 50/75 rule (7th Cir.), 991
– Gen. Trucking, Basic Constr., handbook's assertion of at-will employment no waiver of WARN Act rights, certified class action may proceed against 2 firms operating as single employer (W.D. Ark.), 404

HARASSMENT

– Racial

See RACIAL HARASSMENT

– Same-sex

See SAME-SEX HARASSMENT

– Sexual

See SEXUAL HARASSMENT

– USERRA

See UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT (USERRA)

HAWAII

– Card check recognition, governor vetoes option for agriculture, small business workers, lawmakers consider override, 550

HAZARDOUS OCCUPATIONS

– OSHA inspections, high-hazard workplaces targeted in site-specific plan for 2008, 727
– Personal protective equipment (PPE), training, employers required to provide under OSHA proposed rule, includes respirators, 1168

HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES

– Asbestos

See ASBESTOS

– Carcinogens, toxins, exposure risks, lawmakers urge Chao to scrap “secret rule” altering assessment methods, 1036; provision altering 45-year working life deleted, 1227; House hearing, proposal draws criticism, merits debated, 1256
– Combustible dust

– – Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 5522

– – OSHA mulling options, including rule, House panel told, 381

– DBCP, Nicaraguan field workers alleging soil fumigant caused sterility awarded $3.3M, but $2.5M punitive award dismissed (Cal. Sup. Ct.), 410
– Diesel particulate matter, MSHA final rule will be enforced as written, measurement conversion plans scrapped, 700
– Personal protective equipment (PPE), training, employers required to provide under OSHA proposed rule, includes respirators, 1168
– Prohibiting the Department of Labor's Secret Rule Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 6660

– Silica, beryllium, diacetyl, OSHA standards, DOL semiannual regulatory agenda, 636
– Silica, copper, diesel particulate matter, TLVs, DOL's use of exposure guidelines produced by nonprofit safety professionals lawful (M.D. Ga.), 671
– Workplace risk assessment

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, S 3566

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT (HHS)

– Conscience laws, federal laws bar bias against health care workers with religious or moral objections, comment sought on proposed rule to promote awareness, compliance, 1195; attorneys general in 13 states call on HHS to scrap “right of conscience” rule, 1282; HHS issued rule improperly, without EEOC consultation, Waxman (D-Cal) says, 1443
– Influenza pandemic preparedness, antiviral drugs, draft guidance issued for stockpiling by employers, 779

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

– Home care

See HOME HEALTH CARE

– Hospitals

See HOSPITALS

– Insurance

See HEALTH INSURANCE

– Nurses

See NURSES

– Nursing homes

See NURSING HOMES

– Physicians

See PHYSICIANS

– Residential care

See RESIDENTIAL CARE

– Technology

See MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

HEALTH INSURANCE

– Affordable Coverage for Small Employers Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, S 3554

– Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minn., overtime, business decision not linked to 401(k) plan, no ERISA fiduciary breach (D. Minn.), 938
– Cal., San Francisco ordinance requires employers to pay for worker coverage, city, county, intervenor unions seek emergency stay of ERISA preemption ruling (9th Cir.), 21; ordinance enforceable pending outcome of ERISA challenge, 64; DOL claims ERISA preemption, seeks reinstatement of injunction (9th Cir.), 505; enrollments, program status, employer perspectives discussed, 676; ordinance not governed by or related to ERISA, no preemption (9th Cir.), 1301
– ERISA amendments, CRS updates 2008 report, 1010
– Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 493, S 358

– Health Care Serv. (HCSC), worker fired for insubordination, policy breach after threat to file sex bias charge fails to show pretext, valid comparator (7th Cir.), 1397
– Jobs, Energy, Families, and Disaster Relief Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, S 3335

– Mental health coverage

See MENTAL HEALTH
– – Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA)

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, S 558

– Minn. enacts health insurance tax credits, In Brief, 815
– N.J., public employees benefits, cost-saving reforms enacted, In Brief, 1323
– Scottsdale Healthcare, ERISA, issue exhaustion not required, federal appeal not barred by failure to raise all theories in administrative appeal (9th Cir.), 1314
– Small Business Health Options Program

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, S 2795

– Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability, and Consistency Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 5804

– United Staffing Alliance Empl. Med. Plan, ERISA, arbitrary standard of review proper, delegation of claims administration to nonfiduciary forfeits right to deferential review (U.S., rev den), 945
– Wellpoint, sex bias, mother of 4 young children denied promotion in favor of woman with older children has no stereotyping claim despite comments (D. Me.), 663

HHS

See HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT (HHS)

HIRING

– Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 493, S 358

– Private Security Officer Employment Authorization Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 2703

HIRING HALLS

– SMWIA Local 28, race bias, $6.2M settles EEOC claims on behalf of black, Hispanic workers, consent decree (S.D.N.Y.), 117

HIV

See AIDS AND HIV

HOLIDAYS

– Work at premium pay on holiday does not entitle claimant to overtime for same week (Cal. Ct. App.), 798

HOME HEALTH CARE

– Bayada Nurses, domestic services exemption, challenge to state minimum wage, overtime requirement rejected (Pa. Commw. Ct.), 1217
– Ohio, bargaining rights order may violate federal antitrust law, harm consumers, FTC warns, 301

HOMELAND SECURITY

– Federal employees and contractors, security clearance policies, Bush issues Executive Order 13467, 973
– Security, Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program rollout fairly smooth, House panel told, 127

HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT (DHS)

– Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 2638

– E-Verify (Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program)

See EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION

– E-Verify, no-match letters

See EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION

– Grievances, appeals, disciplinary actions exempt from Privacy Act disclosure under DHS proposed exception, 1406
– H-1B visa program, optional practical training for foreign students extended, cap-gap problem addressed in DHS interim final rule, 507
– ICE

See IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE)

– Sexual harassment, officer allegedly raped by co-worker while on official duty at mandatory training shows all elements except agency liability (7th Cir.), 337
– USCIS

See CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (USCIS)

HOMOSEXUALITY

– Discrimination

See SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION

HORSEPLAY

– Same-sex harassment, N.J. zero tolerance policy requires firing of female corrections officer who dropped towel in front of recruits in women's locker room (N.J. Sup. Ct. App. Div.), 598

HOSPITALS

– Advocate Health Ctr. Patient Care Express, USERRA “costs,” filing fees need not be prepaid for claimant to file bias suit, firing claim reinstated (7th Cir.), 596
– Bellevue Med. Ctr., race, national origin, religious bias, claimant charging vast conspiracy fails to state Title VII claim (S.D.N.Y.), 1183
– Catholic Healthcare West

– – d/b/a/ Northridge Hosp. Med. Ctr., sex bias, $155K, change in radiation exposure policy settles EEOC suit on behalf of pregnant lab workers (C.D. Cal.), 1219
– – Missed meal and rest breaks, nurses seek class status (Cal. Sup. Ct.), 207

– Centinela Hosp. Med. Ctr., FCA claim revived for nurse fired after protesting possible Medicare fraud, “vague” retaliation complaint improperly dismissed (9th Cir.), 472
– Conscience laws, federal laws bar bias against health care workers with religious or moral objections, comment sought on proposed rule to promote awareness, compliance, 1195; Am. Hosp. Assn. urges HHS to scrap rule, 1282; HHS issued rule improperly, without EEOC consultation, Waxman (D-Cal) says, 1443
– Health Mgt. Assocs. d/b/a Bartow Mem'l Hosp., retaliation claim based on invalid pregnancy bias claim viable where nurse reasonably believed activity protected (Fla. Ct. App.), 1274
– Healthcare Ass'n of N.Y. (HANYS) supports N.Y. ban on mandatory overtime for nurses, enactment expected, 920
– HealthSouth Cent. Ga. Rehab. Hosp., racial harassment, intimidated worker's claim sufficient to support inference of severe, pervasive bias, revived (11th Cir.), 1310
– Highlands Hosp., ADEA, workers fired for confidentiality breach fail to show pretext or disparate impact, treatment (6th Cir.), 1430
– Howard Univ. Hosp., age bias, investigation showed absentee registrar lawfully suspended despite supervisor's alleged animus, reversed (D.C.), 1052
– Huntington Mem'l Hosp., overtime class action, failure to calculate shift differential triggers order to pay restitution (Cal. Super. Ct.), 179
– N.J., workplace violence, patient lifting bills enacted to protect health care workers, 100
– New York Health and Hosp., USERRA, positions equivalent, returning reservist failed to show bias in pay raise or new job status (E.D.N.Y.), 429
– North Hawaii Community Hosp., FMLA leave may have been negative factor in termination decision, nurse fired for prior errors upon return may sue (D. Haw.), 366
– Proctor Hosp., association bias related to escalating treatment costs, ADA claim revived for fired nurse whose husband died of cancer (7th Cir.), 340
– River Oaks Imaging and Diagnostic Ctr., gender stereotyping, rescinded job offer based on “misrepresentation policy” may be pretext for bias, transgendered applicant may sue (S.D. Texas), 531
– Riverside Community Hosp., black, bisexual plastic surgeons' racial harassment claim rejected, other claims foreclosed (9th Cir.), 248; rehearing granted on harassment claim (9th Cir.), 1054
– Sacred Heart Med. Ctr., ban on nurses wearing union Safe Staffing buttons was ULP, reversed, remanded to NLRB (9th Cir.), 691
– St. Cloud Hosp., computation of nurse's abensteeism rate must include FMLA leave, interference claim advances, but not retaliation (D. Minn.), 1427
– St. Joseph Reg. Med. Ctr., sexual harassment, retaliation, dual complaints form continuum of protected activity, claim revived (7th Cir.), 1248
– St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Ctrs., improper application of solicitation/distribution rule to break room, nurses station was ULP (7th Cir.), 376
– Staten Island Univ. Hosp., untimely filing of claim under general whistleblower statute no bar to subsequent claim under Health Care Whistleblower Law (N.Y.), 966
– Sutter Health

– – Breaks, overtime violations, dialysis nurses file class action (Cal. Sup. Ct.), 242
– – Medical leave, depressed technician working less stressful part-time job not conclusive proof of ability to work full-time job, Cal. firing claim revived (Cal.), 491

– Total Renal Labs., pregnancy bias not covered under Fla. sex bias ban, fired dietitian has no claim (M.D. Fla.), 905
– Ventura Urgent Care Ctr. Med. Grp., wrongful termination, enforcement of expired arbitration agreement denied (Cal. Ct. App.), 503

HOT GOODS

– Venture 47/Garlee NY, charged with $5M in N.Y. wage and labor violations, goods labeled “unlawfully manufactured” in N.Y. sweatshops sweep, 1040

HOTELS

– El Conquistador Resort, would-be whistleblower's reports to management rather than courts or agencies not protected under P.R. law (1st Cir.), 625
– Los Angeles, Century Corridor

– – Airport Hilton loses bid to halt living wage rate for LAX-area hotel workers (C.D. Cal.), 1333
– – Living wage law for LAX-area workers upheld, Century Blvd. hotels appeal ruling (Cal.), In Brief, 227; petition for review denied (Cal.), 529
– – Service charge ordinance requiring LAX-area hotels to give fees to employees conflicts with state labor code, unenforceable (Cal. Sup. Ct.), 902

HOURS OF WORK

– Compensatory time

See COMPENSATORY TIME

– Doffing and donning time

See CLOTHES CHANGING

– Four-day weeks

See COMPRESSED WORKWEEKS

– Off-the-clock work

See OFF-THE-CLOCK WORK

– Overtime

See OVERTIME

HOUSEKEEPERS

See DOMESTIC WORKERS

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD)

– HOPE VI Improvement and Reauthorization Act

See LEGISLATION, FEDERAL, HR 3524

HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

– Survey outlines creative, desperate tactics employed by job seekers, urges balanced approach, 1366

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

– DOJ prosecutions increasing, 698
– Forced labor

See FORCED LABOR

– INA, scheme to smuggle women from Central America and force them to work in Houston bars triggers prison sentence, restitution (S.D. Texas), 698
– Signal Intl., Indian guestworkers sue shipyard alleging fraud, forced labor, human trafficking (E.D. La.), 410