UPDATE (April 1): Here's the latest challenge, filed today in federal court in Texas.

UPDATE (4:33 P.M. EDT, 3/31/16): A second challenge to the Persuader Rule has been filed today in federal court in Minnesota.

Like the first robin in spring, here is what we believe is the first lawsuit challenging the "Persuader Rule," issued last week by the U.S. Department of Labor. The suit was filed ...

UPDATE (April 1): Here's the latest challenge, filed today in federal court in Texas.

Mercy me! We now have a second challenge to the U.S. Department of Labor's Persuader Rule, filed today in federal court in Minnesota. This morning, I reported on a lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court in Arkansas. What will tomorrow bring?

The Minnesota lawsuit was filed by a network of labor ...

Of significance to employers, the bill, which was signed into law last Wednesday, eliminates the common-law cause of action for wrongful discharge based on "EEO" discrimination. I talked about that here.

Here is a copy of the lawsuit, filed today in federal court in Greensboro, North Carolina. The plaintiffs are three individuals (two transgender men and a lesbian), the American ...

The gender pay gap is 22 cents on the dollar! Something must be done!

. . . would you believe 15 cents on the dollar?

. . . . . . er, how about a nickel?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hd2e_tRBlY

A new pay equity study conducted by Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Chief Economist for Glassdoor.com, has performed an invaluable service in taking the roughly 21-cent pay gap between men and women ...

Big news for employees and employers in North Carolina -- the General Assembly enacted a bill on Wednesday (signed by Gov. Pat McCrory (R) within hours) that was primarily intended to preempt a certain high-profile municipal "bathroom" ordinance. (More on that in a sec.) But included in the bill is a provision that eliminates the wrongful discharge/public policy cause of ...

UPDATE (April 1): Here's the latest challenge, filed today in federal court in Texas.

UPDATE UPDATE (4:36 P.M. EDT, 3/31/16): Now a second lawsuit has been filed, in federal court in Minnesota.

UPDATE (Approx. 8 A.M. EDT, 3/31/16): Boom! Here is what we believe is the first lawsuit challenging the rule, filed yesterday in federal court in Arkansas. The plaintiffs include trade ...

I have to admit, I was afraid that I might need to go into hiding after I expressed doubts last week about that study claiming that female lawyers don't do well when their bosses are male Republicans. But the reader feedback has been positive, with the possible exception of an ambiguous comment on LinkedIn (more on that below):

From Commenter Oaktown Coug

This is a study you ...

The final version of the U.S. Department of Labor rule on white-collar overtime exemptions was sent this week to the Office of Management and Budget, the last stage before issuance of the Rule. For our coverage of the proposed rule, issued last summer, please visit these links:

Proposed Overtime Rule Would More Than Double Salary Threshold for Exempt Employees

Will "Duties Test" Be ...

If your employee isn't a professional driver but spends a lot of time on the road, how "essential" a job function is driving for ADA purposes? Is driving "essential" at all?

In what I consider to be a very significant result under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently ruled that driving might not be an ADA ...

NOTE (3/16/16): This post has been corrected since it was originally posted. 

President Obama has nominated Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Judge Garland, age 63, had bipartisan support when he was nominated to the D.C. Circuit (in 1995, by President ...

I don't know what to make of the study, conducted by business professors from the University of Michigan and Temple University, that purports to find a negative correlation between political conservatism among some law firm partners and the advancement of the careers of female attorneys in reporting to those same partners.

To put that in plainer English: According to this study

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a nice little "fact sheet" this week for small businesses, summarizing their obligations under the laws that the EEOC enforces. Here's a link.

Just be aware that "sex," in the EEOC's opinion, includes sexual orientation and gender identity.

(No jokes about small hands or "little" presidential candidates

Our Winston-Salem, North Carolina, office will be celebrating its 25th anniversary this evening (we actually opened on February 8, 1991, but we're celebrating tonight). Neil Wasser, chair of our Executive Committee, is coming in from Atlanta to join us for dinner. I can't let the day pass without wishing a very happy silver anniversary to my Winston-Salem colleagues:

Our fearless ...

"The boss is a jerk. I dread coming to work every day. I'm treated unfairly. Everyone else gets better treatment than I do. My pay stinks, and my company's paid-time-off policy leaves much to be desired. I should sue!"

The Daily Mail had an article this week about "the moment [employees] started hating their jobs," based on a Reddit discussion thread entitled "What work ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed today two lawsuits contending that employers' alleged discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation violates the Title VII ban on sex discrimination. One suit was filed on behalf of a gay call center employee in Pennsylvania, and the other was filed on behalf of a lesbian forklift operator in Maryland.

Here is the ...