Site Map - Legal Issues

04/30/2008 - The California Supreme Court has ruled that a company that fired an employee for medical marijuana use did not discriminate against the worker. The court noted that nothing in the state law making medical marijuana use legal indicated that it was applicable to the workplace.

04/30/2008 - A federal district court has ruled that a company cannot compel plaintiffs in a discrimination case to produce their medical and psychological records. The court also ruled that plaintiffs did not have to provide arrest records as requested by the defense. The court pointed out that this request was especially egregious because the company did not conduct background checks on applicants to screen for prior arrests.

04/30/2008 - A bill (H.R. 3685) introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) that would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual orientation has been approved by the House of Representatives. The Senate has agreed to consider the measure.

04/30/2008 - A federal appeals court has ruled that a hospital is not required to accommodate the restrictions on a nurse’s working environment brought about by her drug dependency. In the written opinion of the case, the court noted that “Dovenmuehler’s case is unique because her claimed disability has a peculiar feature. Certain behavior, while consistent with her claimed disability, also happens to be illegal. Such conduct is not protected by the ADA.”

04/29/2008 - An organization cannot halt an internal investigation once a federal discrimination suit has been filed, an appellate court said, because it constitutes retaliation against the employee who made the complaint.

03/20/2008 - A civil liberties group has taken the Israeli government to court, challenging the common practice of ethnic profiling in airline security.

03/11/2008 - A U.N. working group says private security contractors become mercenaries once they engage in low-intensity conflict or post-conflict situations.

02/29/2008 - The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced an increase in racial discrimination lawsuits filed with the agency. Racial discrimination cases overall have risen from 3,075 in 1991 to more than 7,000 in 2007.  

02/29/2008 - When should companies tell customers that their data has been compromised? This Web site lays out the legal requirements.

02/29/2008 - The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has required one brokerage house to pay $12.5 million for lying about the destruction of millions of e-mails relating to an arbitration hearing.

02/29/2008 - A county agency’s workers cannot be held liable for a colleague’s murder of her husband, an appeals court ruled, despite their knowledge that she was abusing drugs, having an affair, and had stolen poison from work and used it to commit the crime.

01/30/2008 - A review of cases the Supreme Court declined to hear, covering the ADA, a hostile workplace, campus safety, and retaliation; also, legislation on cybercrime and immigration.

01/24/2008 - Victor Breehe has filed a lawsuit against a Black & Decker manufacturing plant in Tennessee. Breehe failed a medical test used to predict whether an employee is likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome. Breehe claims that the test discriminates against those the company considers disabled, a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.