Employment Law Updates
U.S. Courts have reached some interesting decisions relating to employment law. Recently, the following cases have been reported.
THE HELPFUL PERSONNEL OFFICE
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a human resources representative engaged in protected activity under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when she referred a coworker who complained of discrimination to a plaintiff’s attorney. Gogel v. Kia Motors Manufacturing of Georgia, Inc.
CLASS CLAIMS
On October 29, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela. At issue in Lamps Plus is what standard should be applied in determining oral argument in the case of whether parties have agreed to submit claims relating to employment law to class arbitration. The arbitration agreement between Lamps Plus and one of its employees did not contain an explicit waiver prohibiting arbitration of class or collective claims.
IS YOUR COMPANY WEBSITE ACCESSIBLE TO THE HANDICAPPED?
In Gomez v. Knife Management, LLC (S.D. Fla. Sep. 14, 2018). The Defendant owns and operates a chain of restaurants. There is no dispute that the restaurants are places of public accommodation covered by the ADA. Defendant also maintains a website with information about the restaurants. Plaintiff alleged that he was unable to fully utilize the website because he is vision impaired and portions of the website are not readable by screen reader software. However, Plaintiff did not allege that he attempted to visit one of the restaurants, that he intended to visit one in the future, or that the website impeded his ability to access the restaurants or the goods and services they offered. Because of this the case was lost. On different facts, where Plaintiff says he or she intended to patronize the restaurant, the case would have gone their way.
Employment Law Attorneys
The Mazza Law Group, P.C. has an experienced attorney who can help with your employment law issue. These updates are provide for informational purposes and do not constitute legal advice. Contact us today to schedule a consultation to discuss your issues.