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Consult with experienced labor & employment lawyers whenever you need advice, without worrying about legal fees!
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For more information about Wessels Sherman's unique Phone Consultation Program, check our web page by clicking on the below link; or contact Christine Beggan at (952) 746-1700, or email her
here.
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Did You Know?
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Wessels Sherman has well-staffed offices with experienced attorneys to assist with our readers' legal needs in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa too. Businesses with operations/matters in these states are encouraged to call any of our attorneys for assistance. Additionally, Wessels Sherman attorneys regularly work with other lawyers as a highly cost-effective and trusted co-counsel and local counsel. Referrals are always appreciated and respected.
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Minnesota Client Alert
Legal News for Minnesota Employers
April 2016
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Phoebe A. Taurick |
This week, on April 25th the DOL published
The Employer's Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act
(pdf).This guide was "designed to provide essential information about the FMLA, including information about employers' obligations under the law and the options available to employers in administering leave under the FMLA." This is welcome guidance, as administration of the FMLA has given employers headaches since its enactment in 1993. The publication of this guide follows the 2012 publication of a guide by the DOL for employees to assist individuals in pursuing their rights under the FMLA.
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 Recent 8th Circuit Decision Affirms that Obesity, on its Own, Is Not a Disability
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Mos t human resources professionals and employment lawyers recognize that an employee or applicant that is overweight to the point of being obese, may well be considered "disabled" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If disabled, it follows that such individuals are entitled to reasonable accommodations as may be needed to perform the essential functions of the job. But according to a very recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th
Circuit (which covers Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas, among other states) the fact that an individual is obese, even morbidly obese, does not necessarily mean that he or she is "disabled" within the meaning of the ADA. In
Morriss v. BNSF Railway Co
. (April 5, 2016), the court held that in order to qualify as a "disability,"
obesity must result from an underlying physiological disorder or condition
. As the court put it,
being overweight - "no matter how far outside [the normal] range" - does not, standing alone, meet the definition of a physical "impairment."
Addressing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) position in its "friend of the court" brief,
the court rejected the conclusion that morbid obesity constituted a disability regardless of the cause
. Instead, according to this new decision obesity of any level, whether termed "severe," "morbid," or "class III" obesity, is not a disability absent some underlying physiological disorder or condition. Qualifying examples of physiological disorders or conditions, would include...
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The Department of Labor finalized changes to its controversial "persuader" rule, requiring employers and their labor consultants, including attorneys, to report any arrangement to directly or indirectly persuade employees regarding unionization. Many attorneys object that this requirement would violate attorney-client privilege, and the rule is already facing multiple challenges in courts across the country, including at least one in Minnesota.
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Massey Energy's CEO, Don Blankenship, received the maximum sentence for engaging in a "dangerous conspiracy" to "willfully violate mandatory mine health and safety standards" before a deadly mine explosion that killed 29 individuals. Blankenship was accused of placing profits before safety, and putting pressure on workers to look past hazards. Blankenship was not charged with directly causing the explosion, and was cleared of the more serious charges of submitting false statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or he would have faced a significantly longer prison sentence.
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Things You Need to Know... About All Things HR:
A Day of Lists
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Join our employment attorneys for an interesting and informative "Day of Lists," an entire day devoted to the most critical aspects of the decisions and issues you face on a daily basis -- and their legal consequences, all in a unique and fun "list" format.
Cost: $175 - First person; $125 - Additional person (same company)
Location: Country Springs Hotel & Conference Center;
Pewaukee, WI
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