Fort Lauderdale Employment Law Blog

At a recent conference of the Society for Human Resource Management, two experts spoke about the most common ways managers violate the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). These break down into three major categories: 1) failure to take the appropriate actions when an employee needs to take leave; 2) giving the impression that taking leave would be problematic; and 3) retaliation against employees who take leave.

The FMLA guarantees eligible workers up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave every 12 months in order to bond with a new child, to care for their own or a family member's serious health condition, or to handle certain qualifying exigencies arising from a family member's active duty military service. Up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave per year are available to care for an injured or ill military service member in the family.

If you have a family member who has a serious illness, you may be struggling with trying to care for him or her while maintaining your job. It can be nearly impossible to balance your full-time work schedule if you are the primary caretaker for a sick loved one.

The federal government has a program in place to assist people in your situation. You may be eligible for this program, but it is important for you to understand how it works as well as avoid pitfalls that can occur when you request extended time off work under this program.

A business development specialist at the multinational law firm Dentons has filed a state lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. The alleged events took place at the New York office of the firm, which has offices across the U.S., including in Miami.

According to the ABA Journal, the lawsuit claims that the employee "was repeatedly treated like nothing other than a sexual object" by her supervisor, who led the firm's venture technology group. He allegedly subjected her to vulgar language and sexual propositions, tried to draw her into sexual conversations when he phoned her at late hours, and touched her in sexual ways without her consent.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling in one of the longest debated cases of the session. In a 5:4 decision, the Court ruled that an employer may prevent its employees from joining in a class action lawsuit against the employer. Under the terms of many employment contracts, this decision prevents a vulnerable employee from pursuing litigation altogether--forcing them instead to resolve disputes through arbitration.

The decision was met with strong criticism by employee advocates. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg--one of the dissenting justices in the case--called the ruling "egregiously wrong" and petitioned congress to rectify the Court's action. Other critics expressed concern that the ruling will limit exploited employees' access to protection and justice.