Background Check Guidelines Issued By The EEOC

The EEOC has issued guidelines about criminal background checks which are causing qualified applicants to lose-out on good jobs. As a lawyer who represents workers, I applaud this guidance from the EEOC, however, it really seems to be a stretch of the law. Hopefully, Congress would take some action to limit the use of such checks, in a way that the guidance suggests. A fair employer could give the applicant the opportunity to respond, or the employer could agree that a DUI from 30 years ago really isn’t relevant to a receptionist’s job. Unfortunately, many large employers have a “zero tolerance” policy when it comes to arrests.

See Attorney Bruce Coane speak about this topic on YouTube:

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

U.S.Department of Labor Enforces Overtime Pay Laws

I attended a luncheon today of the National Employment Lawyers Association and the speaker was an Asst. District Director of the U.S.Department of Labor.

She spoke about enforcement actions. Their agency investigates complaints about violations of wage and hour laws. In particular, she talked about enforcement actions and investigations particularly concerning restaurants and funeral homes. She also talked about the misclassification of workers.

Workers can be misclassified by employers in two ways. One, they can be called independent contractors, when in fact they should be an “employee” entitled to overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a week.

Second, some workers are classified as exempt from overtime when they clearly are non-exempt. This happens especially when an employee is paid a salary. Some employees think that if they are paid a salary, they are not entitled to overtime pay. This is NOT the law. While being paid a salary is one piece of evidence, the key is whether the employee is performing non-exempt job duties, such as menial or routine tasks.

While the Department of Labor can investigate such issues, the speaker noted that they are swamped with complaints and often suggest the individual get a private attorney. At our law firm, we often represent individuals who have overtime claims against an employer.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Mediation of Employment Law Cases by Attorney Bruce Coane

Here is my latest video which talks about the mediation of employment law cases. It explains how mediation works and what benefit it may have for employees and employers.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Immigrants Leaving the Work Force

Excellent article about lack of workers in some states, due to certain anti-immigrant legislation, like in Arizona.

States who chase away immigrants are now feeling the brunt of having jobs with no American workers available to fill them. Immigration lawyers have known for decades that there are certain jobs like those described in the attached article, where Americans will not do those jobs, such as picking crops, working in the hot sun, etc.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Kroger Files Motion to Dismiss Race/Sex Harassment Lawsuit

In a case that our law firm has been handling, the employer, Kroger, has filed a motion for summary judgment seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed. They claim that there are insufficient disputed facts to warrant a trial. The case is pending in US District Court in Houston and is set for trial this summer.

In this case, our client filed a lawsuit in federal court, claiming that a co-worker harassed her because she is black and female, by among other things, calling her a “nigger.” Store managers, Raymond Wei and Mike Childs, have signed statements on behalf of Kroger’s motion.

Co-manager of the Kroger store (in Sugar Land, Tx), Raymond Wei, verifies that our client complained about a co-worker using curse words at her, and he notes that a customer verified our client’s complaint. Store manager Mike Childs has verified that the offending employee was disciplined at least one time, yet, his employer still seeks dismissal of the case.

In their motion, Kroger claims that our client cannot prove sufficient facts to win, so the judge should dismiss the case. This is a common defense tactic in almost every discrimination case. Unfortunately, many times a judge will dismiss the case without the employee-victim ever getting their day in court for a trial. In this case, we plan to respond to the motion with compelling evidence, so hopefully the judge will let our client proceed to trial before a jury.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

90 Years Old is Too Soon to Retire

I read a story, recently, in the Miami Herald, which reminded me about one of my clients. The story was about Sister Marie Schramko, the 95 year old assistant principal at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale. The article talked about how amazing it is that she is still working at the age of 95.

This story reminded me of my client, Rosa Lopez, who at 92 was working as a Registered Nurse at Miami Behavioral Health Center until she was unceremoniously fired after 30 years of service, with no notice and no severance pay. Now, 93, Lopez still desires to work but has been unable to find employment.

Lopez has filed a federal court lawsuit against Miami Behavioral Health Center, alleging discrimination based on age and disability. In particular, she alleges that her supervisor Ron Espinoza made comments to her that she needed to retire because of her advanced age and medical condition.

While most of us can only dream of living to age 90 or beyond, it is truly amazing that these two South Florida women, have been able to continue working well-into their 90′s.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Facebook Users Talk About Giving Employers Their Passwords

NBC-Miami interview of me regarding employers asking for Facebook passwords

Read the full article here.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Facebook Password Required at Job Interview?

Is a prospective employee required to give their Facebook password at a job interview? Clearly an invasion of privacy? Well, believe it or not, there is no law about any of this.

Last week, members of the U.S.Senate, asked for an investigation, but the truth is, the matter had never been addressed. Employers are always coming up with new and creative ways to fire employees, and now they have a new method to use in the hiring process. Will Congress or state legislatures stop them? I sure hope so!

I noticed that one senator asked the EEOC to look into the matter. However, the EEOC investigates complaints of discrimination based on age, race, sex, etc., but certainly no issues involving privacy. I guess the senator was looking for some avenue, and the EEOC is about the only avenue for wronged employees. Unfortunately, the EEOC would have to make quite a stretch to link a Facebook password with unlawful discrimination against a particular group.

It will be interesting to watch how this new area of employment law develops. No doubt, soon enough, I’ll have clients coming in with these issues.

photo from: Forbes.com
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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Coane and Associates’ Client Sues Company for Overtime Pay

Our law firm, Coane and Associates, just recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of a client for overtime pay. Our client worked at Liberty Power Corporation in South Florida, and claims that the company had him working more than 40 hours a week without any extra pay or overtime.

In 2011, the company installed time clocks and then started paying proper overtime, but before that, they were simply paying regular hourly rates to workers. The Fair Labor Standards Act generally requires employers to pay their non-exempt workers 1.5 times their hourly rate for hours worked in excess of 40 in a week.

Our client was also fired by the company and has a discrimination complaint pending with the EEOC. The lawsuit is filed in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.

Employee Rights: Pregnancy Discrimination is Illegal

Employers and companies all have anti-discriminatory policies, unfortunately even if this is so, there are still cases where employees experience and endure this. One form of employment discrimination that does not get much publicity, is pregnancy discrimination where employers are bias over their pregnant workers, forcing them to take a leave, work shorter hours or even discharging them because of their pregnancy. My law firm, Coane and Associates, handles a few of these cases every year.

Here is an interesting article about pregnancy discrimination : Pregnancy Discrimination in America.

photo from: Babble.com
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About the author: Bruce Coane is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law, and, immigration law, with offices in Florida and Texas. He may be reached at houstonlaw@aol.com, 713-850-0066 or 305-538-6800.