David Smith of Constangy’s OSHA practice group is co-author of this post.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are tag-teaming transportation employers. They’ve signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which they agree to share information about allegations of safety, coercion, and retaliation.

And ...

It has been a busy week. Muslim headscarves, tech exec's tweets get him fired, and Lady Gaga is going to trial!

UPDATE ON LADY GAGA (10/22/13): She has settled her case.

Abercrombie gets fitched, and HR doesn't always get it right. I have previously reported on the litigation against Abercrombie & Fitch and its "looks policy" which at one time did not allow head coverings, even if worn for ...

YIKES! Lady Gaga: Wage-and-hour lawyer's nightmare!

Lady Gaga has been sued for unpaid overtime by her former personal assistant, Jennifer O'Neill. (No relation to the beautiful star of Summer of '42.) Ms. O'Neill, who has claims under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and New York state wage and hour law, says that she was at Ms. Gaga's beck and call 24/7 for about 15 months but was ...

Many thanks to Nathan Johnson for submitting this guest post!

Here is a brief breakdown of this week's 5-4 Supreme Court decision in Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., which held that pharmaceutical reps are subject to the "outside sales" exemption to the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Court split along the expected lines: Justice Samuel Alito wrote ...

Last week, my post was about retaliation, and how employers can be liable and how they can defend themselves. As luck would have it, two recent court decisions illustrate beyond my wildest imagination how important this issue can be.

Five years between protected activity and adverse action? No problem! I said last week that most courts find that a six-month or more time lapse between the ...

Don't eat that pretty red apple, Snow White!!! It has poison in it!!!!

You know the old saying, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is"? Well, it appears that this may be the case with the new "sweet deal" the Internal Revenue Service is offering to employers who agree to reclassify their "independent contractors" [sic] as "employees" in exchange for some admittedly generous ...

Plaintiff's lawyer Donna Ballman and The Evil HR Lady have had good posts recently on common employee misconceptions about employment law, including the "right" to see what is in one's personnel file and the "right" to take a break.*

*Depending on where the employee lives, he may have these rights, but in many states he does not. And the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not require ...