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Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued four labor and employment-related decisions; none, however, were big surprises or substantial changes in the law.

 First, in Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, the Court held 8-0 that an employer defending an Age Discrimination in Employment Act case bears the burden of proving a "reasonable factors other than age" or "RFOA" affirmative defense.  Truth be told, most defense lawyers have assumed that it was the employer’s burden to prove the affirmative defense; this decision simply confirms that assumption. 
Continue Reading Big Day at the Supreme Court: Four New L&E Decisions

In Emerald v. Bureau of Labor, The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed a Bureau of Labor and Industries determination that an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee’s off-duty medical marijuana use.  However, the case was affirmed on a technicality – again leaving Oregon employers wondering if they really have to accommodate an employee’s medical marijuana use.  Continue Reading Oregon Court of Appeals: Keep Accommodating Medical Marijuana (For Now….)

Oregon’s anti-discrimination statute allows an employee alleging employment discrimination to file either a lawsuit (which results in a jury trial) or an administrative complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (which results in an administrative hearing with no jury). In Emerald v. Bureau of Labor, the employer argued that allowing an employee to arbitrarily choose whether or not there will be a jury trial violates the employer’s right to a jury trial under the Oregon Constitution.  Not so, ruled the Oregon Court of Appeals earlier this week.  Continue Reading Oregon Court of Appeals Upholds Employment Discrimination Statute