Religious accommodation, the Oscars, non-competes, social media, Brian Williams versus Bill O'Reilly, workplace violence, and inspirational employees -- we have it all today! Here are some links about recent news and court cases involving the workplace, followed by some points for discussion if you'd like to comment.

Supreme Court justices seem to side with hijab-wearer ...

The U.S. Department of Labor announced today its Final Rule changing the definition of "spouse" in the Family and Medical Leave Act to include most same-sex married couples. I blogged about the proposed rule in June, and the Final Rule is the same for the most part.

The changes reflect (and expand upon) last year's Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor. That decision ...

You may remember that I stirred up some contentiousness a few weeks ago when I suggested that employers should not challenge unemployment claims except in the worst cases. So I hate to bring it up again (not really -- I like debates in the comments!), but I received a very good question from an attorney reader a while ago, and he gave me permission to run his question here.

Ms. Shea,

I ...

Should an employee performance review be one big love letter?

Maybe so, according to Rachel Feintzeig, who wrote in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, "Everything Is Awesome! Why You Can't Tell Employees They're Doing a Bad Job." The idea is that many employers are getting away from providing constructive criticism in performance reviews and are "accentuating the positive."

My ...

"Too long, loved the judge, didn't believe either one of them but still think she may have been hurt, liked the firm but thought they should have done more."

A little Faruqi fix for those of you don't know what to do with yourselves now that the trial is over -- David Lat of Above the Law interviewed one of the jurors, who offered some excellent insights into why they did what they did. Definitely ...

As you may have seen, the jury in Marchuk v. Faruqi came back yesterday with a verdict for plaintiff Alexandra Marchuk, but it will not allow her to retire, nor will it even pay off her law school student loans.

Ms. Marchuk got a total of $140,000:

$70,000 in back pay

$20,000 in front pay

$5,000 in punitive damages against the law firm

and $45,000 in punitive damages against partner Juan ...

Law360 reports this afternoon that the jury returned a verdict for Alexandra Marchuk and against defendants Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, and partner Juan Monteverde. The jury awarded her $90,000 in actual damages, and punitive damages will be determined later. She had asked for $2 million.

Ms. Marchuk won on her hostile work environment claim under the New York City Human Rights Law. However ...

The sexual harassment case of Alexandra Marchuk v. Faruqi & Faruqi went to the jury late yesterday afternoon. For previous coverage of the trial, go here, here, here, here, here, and here.

In closing arguments, the attorney for the defendants called Ms. Marchuk a "wolf" and said she had made up her allegations to get money. Among other things, he noted that her gynecologist, who she saw ...