FMLA and Protections for Gay Parents-Revised

The Department of Labor has revised the protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to protect parents of children even when the law does not recognize the parential rights. This was done under an interpretation of the FMLA.  No Congressional action was required.  Under the FMLA, employees can take upto 12 weeks of […]

Want to go after the state under FLSA? You can’t do it, but Feds can.

A story in today’s St. Petersburg Times about a Department of Labor investigating the failure of a state agency to pay proper overtime, mentions lawsuits against the Department of Children and Families under the Fair Labor Standards Act. While the federal government can sue states for violation of the FLSA, the Supreme Court has held […]

Hillsborough County Fires Pat Bean

Hillsborough County has fired its County Administrator.  Links articles about the firing are here and here and here. I would like to see the actual language of the contract about what represents “cause” such that severance payments are not due to Pat Bean.  Without a close examination of the language it is very hard to […]

Two Supreme Court Labor and Employment Law Decisions

– City of Ontario, California v. Quon. This case involved  a police officer’s text messages being reviewed by the City.  The  Court sidestepped the question whether public employees have an expectation of privacy, but in any event unanimously found that the city’s search of a worker’s text messages at issue in the case was reasonable […]

Robert O’Neill Nominated to U.S. Attorney Position for the Middle District of Florida

Yesterday, President Obama nominated Robert O’Neill to the U.S. Attorney position in the Middle District of Florida. O’Neill has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District since 1993. O’Neill must go through a review by the Senate Judiciary Committee and be confirmed by the Senate to become U.S. Attorney. For more information, […]