Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a pregnant woman on her claim that her employer discriminated against her on account of her pregnancy. The case, entitled Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., involved a pregnant UPS worker whose doctor recommended that she not life heavy objects while pregnant. When the employee requested… Read More
Posts Tagged With: U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court Rules FICA Tax Applies to Severance Pay
On March 25, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-0 in United States v. Quality Stores, Inc. that severance payments made to involuntarily terminated employees are taxable “wages” subject to FICA taxes. This decision resolved a split among lower federal courts which left some employers uncertain whether to withhold and pay FICA taxes on severance… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Expands Whistleblower Liability
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOA”) included protections for whistleblowers at public companies. Section 806 of the SOA states that no publicly-traded company, or any officer, employee, contractor, subcontractor, or agent of such public company, may discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, or in any other manner discriminate against an employee for whistleblowing or engaging in other protected activities…. Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Makes Retaliation Cases Harder to Prove
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar. The issue in that case was whether a plaintiff alleging illegal retaliation under Title VII against her employer had to show but-for causation (i.e., that the employer would not have taken the adverse employment action but for its… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Puts New Limits on Harassment Claims under Title VII
Back in 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court announced two important decisions that clarified the scope of an employer’s liability for workplace sexual harassment under Title VII. These two cases are Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998), and Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998), and they announced the rule that continues… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. By a vote of 5-4, the Court ruled that the part of the law that requires everyone to buy health insurance or pay a fine – the so-called “individual mandate” – is constitutional because it amounts to a tax, which Congress has… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Issues Landmark Pro-Business Arbitration Ruling
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision in AT&T Mobility LLC. v. Concepcion that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preempts state laws that condition the enforceability of an entire class of arbitration agreements on whether or not they allow for classwide arbitration. The issue in the case was whether AT&T’s customer arbitration agreement,… Read More
