State Employment Law Articles

Timely summaries of decisions from across New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey concerning workers' compensation matters. It also provides the latest news regarding litigation, changes in interpretive language used by the courts, permanency determinations, and more.

After vetoing workplace bullying legislation this summer, the Governor of Puerto Rico has signed into law two amendments to existing employment laws that may increase litigation of retaliation and vacation and sick leave claims. The amendments are effective immediately.

A university properly terminated a professor for failing to undergo a fitness-for-duty examination after he had engaged in instances of threatening behavior, the California Court of Appeal has ruled, affirming a judgment in favor of the University of San Francisco on a professor’s alleged disability

California recently enacted two laws that expand the training and staffing requirements for assisted living facilities in the state and another measure that requires hospitals to implement a workplace violence prevention plan.

Upon a showing of good cause, a stockholder could overcome a corporation’s attorney-client privilege when suing the corporation for acting contrary to the stockholders’ interests, the Delaware Supreme Court has ruled. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Indiana Electrical Workers Pension Trust Fund IBEW, No. 6

On September 19, 2014, Governor Alejandro García Padilla signed into law an amendment to the Puerto Rico Minimum Wage, Vacation, and Sick Leave Act (the “Act”) to include a subsection (c) to Article 9, imposing new civil penalties on employers for violations of the Act.

California has taken the lead once again in the area of data breach notification laws. In 2002, California was the first state to pass a law requiring companies to notify affected individuals of the breach of their personal information. On September 30, 2014, California’s governor signed into law th

A bulletin on employment, labor, benefits, and immigration law.

An amendment to the California Farm Labor Contractor Act requires that farm labor contractors participate in at least one hour of sexual harassment prevention training each year. In addition, the amendment requires that an applicant for licensure as a farm labor contractor execute a written statemen

California has become the third state in the country, after New York and Oregon, to ban sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace directed toward unpaid interns.

Since 2004, California employers with 50 or more employees have been required to provide their supervisors with sexual harassment training. Effective January 1, 2015, these employers will have an additional responsibility. Governor Jerry Brown signed A.B. 2053 into law on September 9, 2014, mandatin

An amendment to the California data breach notification statute requires companies that experience a data breach to include information in the notification that if identity theft prevention and mitigation services are provided, they must be provided for at least 12 months to affected persons at no c

The (somewhat confusingly titled) Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) broadly prohibits states from enacting or enforcing laws that affect the prices, routes or services that motor carriers offer for the transportation of property. On September 30, 2014, in Massachusett

On September 29, 2014, Governor Alejandro García Padilla signed into law an amendment to Puerto Rico Act 115, effective immediately.

Revisions to the District of Columbia's Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act ("the Act") adopted last February have become fully effective following the District's adoption of a 2015 budget. The District of Columbia Department of Employment Services (DOES) has published a revised "Official Notice" that m

California Governor Jerry Brown has until next Tuesday, September 30, to sign or veto bills recently passed by the California Legislature.

The California Labor Code’s Section 1102.5(b) whistleblower protections are not limited to the first employee reporting alleged misconduct, the California Court of Appeal has ruled, affirming a judgment in favor of a deputy sheriff on his whistleblower retaliation claim. Hager v. County of Los Angel

Delaware Governor Jack A. Markell (D) has signed into law the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, S.B. 212, extending workplace protections afforded to pregnant employees, and employees who have recently given birth, to include requiring employers provide reasonable accommodations to such employees.

Employers subject to California’s mandatory “AB 1825” sexual harassment training requirement for supervisors will need to revise their programs to include prevention of “abusive conduct,” following an amendment (AB 2053) to California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

Illinois has become the fifth jurisdiction to expand its workplace laws to protect unpaid interns — joining New York, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and New York City.