September 2008

In the first case of its kind before a federal circuit court, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held recently that an employer violated Title VII for terminating a female employee who underwent in vitro fertilization treatments.  To read the opinion in Hall v. Nalco Company, click here

The employer terminated the employee citing “absenteeism—infertility treatments.” 

The Presidential election is less than two months away, and the candidates’ campaigns are in full swing.  Oddly enough, the candidates have been strangely silent on labor and employment law issues, focusing their attention on other pressing national security concerns, such as putting lipstick on pigs.  Glad to see they’re taking the high road. 

In

The City of Vancouver, Washington announced yesterday that it will pay a former police officer $1.65 million to settle a federal retaliation and racial discrimination lawsuit he filed two years ago over his termination.  To read the Oregonian’s coverage on the case, click here

This isn’t plaintiff Navin Sharma’s first settlement with the city:  he settled

California employers beware:  the state Attorney General is enforcing meal breaks and overtime laws.  This week, an Orange County drywall contractor agreed to pay $1.4 million in damages to employees who did not receive their legally required meal breaks or who did not recieve overtime.  To read the settlement in the case, California v. Interwall Dev. Sys. Inc.