Advocate General Niilo Jääskinen of the EU Court of Justice has issued an opinion in the case of a morbidly obese child-minder in Denmark who lost his job, allegedly due to unlawful discrimination, finding that “if obesity has reached such a degree that it plainly hinders participation in professional life, then this can be a disability” under the Equal Treatment in Employment Directive. Karsten Kaltoft, who never weighed less than 352 pounds (with a BMI of 54) during his 15-year tenure with the Municipality of Billund taking care of other people’s children in his home until he was terminated, claimed that his dismissal was based on his weight and sought damages for discrimination. The Court of Kolding in Denmark referred the case to the EU Court of Justice, seeking an opinion on whether the EU Treaty and Charter included a “self-standing prohibition on discrimination on the grounds of obesity,” or…
Tag Archives labor
After a three-week trial, a jury has reportedly cleared Anheuser-Busch of sex discrimination in a suit brought by former executive Francine Katz, who had alleged that she was paid less than her male counterparts because of her gender. Katz v. Anheuser-Busch Inc., No. 922-CC09513 (St. Louis Circ. Ct., verdict rendered May 16, 2014). Katz worked at Anheuser-Busch as vice president of communications and consumer affairs from 2002 to 2008, when she left following InBev NV’s November 2008 acquisition of the company. During the acquisition process, Katz learned that her compensation was lower than the pay received by her male colleagues on the strategy committee, and she filed a suit alleging violations of the Missouri Human Rights Act in 2009. Following the jury’s decision, Katz told the media that she hoped she had helped to draw attention to the issue of gender bias in compensation. See St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 17,…
Repeated motions of lifting pitchers, steaming milk and stamping espresso may cause medial epicondylitis—golfer’s elbow—or other stress injuries in baristas. A recent New York Post article chronicles one woman’s experience with a stress injury allegedly resulting from her job duties as a barista. In addition, a former barista in Canberra, Australia, was recently awarded $600,000 (AUD) in damages after she had a rib removed and was diagnosed with a nerve disorder as a result of the stress from repeatedly holding a 4.4-pound jug of milk while the coffee machine steamed it. According to an informal survey conducted by coffee website Sprudge, 55 percent of 475 respondents reported they had sustained repetitive stress injuries in their barista work. While treatment can include physical therapy or surgery, a certified hand specialist who spoke to the Post said that preventative measures like exercise and better posture can help protect coffee shop employees from…
Two consumers have filed a putative class action against dairy cooperative Darigold Inc., a subsidiary of Northwest Dairy Association, for false advertising and fraud by concealment, alleging that the company misrepresented the conditions in which its milk is produced. Ruiz v. Darigold Inc., No. 14-2054 (N.D. Cal., May 5, 2014). Yesenia Ruiz and Fernando Dorantes argue that they would not have purchased Darigold’s products if they had known about the purportedly poor conditions in which its employees work and its cows are milked. According to the complaint, Darigold employees are denied drinkable water, break periods and lunch rooms, and some of its cows are sick and injured but are milked anyway. The plaintiffs also assert claims under California’s Unfair Competition Law; the unjust enrichment laws of California, Washington and Oregon; Washington’s Consumer Protection Act; and Oregon’s Unlawful Trade Practices Act. Issue 523
CNNMoney has published a May 1, 2014, article claiming that the Department of Labor (DOL) has difficulty cracking down on labor and wage violations in the fast food industry due to the franchise model. Based on data collected by DOL’s Wage and Hour Division that reportedly found individual Subway franchisees “in violation of pay and hour rules in more than 1,100 investigations spanning from 2000 to 2013,” the article claims that these cases amounted to “17,000 Fair Labor Standards Act violations and resulted in franchisees having to reimburse Subway workers more than $3.8 million over the years.” “Even though fast food locations may look the same and restaurants abide by similar branding and business guidelines, each franchise owner is treated essentially as a small business,” opines CNNMoney’s Annalyn Kurtz. “Meanwhile, the corporate parents can distance themselves from being found liable of labor violations.” In addition to DOL’s renewed focus on…
A recent study has found that sleep deprivation can lead to unethical behavior, but caffeine can counteract the effect. David T. Welsh, et al., “Building a Self-Regulatory Model of Sleep Deprivation and Deception: The Role of Caffeine and Social Influence,” Journal of Applied Psychology, March 2014. Researchers kept volunteers awake overnight then gave half of the participants a piece of gum laced with 200 mg of caffeine. The researchers then created situations emulating work environments in which a boss or a peer pressured the participants to “cut ethical corners at work” by lying to earn extra money. The caffeinated subjects consistently refused to lie, while the non-caffeinated subjects were significantly more willing to participate in the deception. “Our results support supplying employees with caffeinated products,” the researchers report, although they warn that caffeine consumption is not a replacement for sleep. Issue 521
Four former employees of T.G.I. Friday’s, Inc. have filed a putative class action against the restaurant and its parent company, Carlson Restaurants, Inc., to recover unpaid wages, including overtime compensation and unlawful deductions. Flood v. Carlson Restaurants Inc., No. 14-2740 (S.D.N.Y., filed April 17, 2014). The former employees claim that T.G.I. Friday’s managers required them to work in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law. In the complaint, the employees allege that managers required tip-earning workers to do “side work” like rolling silverware, cleaning the restaurant and other tasks that did not merit them tips while the restaurant paid them at the reduced minimum wage reserved for tipped workers. They further allege that managers prevented the employees from receiving their earned overtime pay by lowering the amount of time the employees were on the clock each week to below 40 hours and that the restaurant…
A federal court in California has refused to certify four classes of Starbucks employees in litigation alleging that its rest break policy and scheduling practices, and meal period policy and practices violated the state’s Labor Code and Unfair Competition Law. Cummings v. Starbucks Corp., No. 12-6345 (C.D. Cal., decided March 24, 2014). As to the proposed meal break class, the court found that the plaintiff’s “second theory of liability—that Starbucks had a practice of failing to provide timely meal breaks—does not present a common question of law” because “there is no common answer as to why employees took a late meal break, and individualized inquiries into each late meal break would be required.” The court also found as to this proposed class that the plaintiff’s claims did not meet the typicality requirement because her alleged late meal break claims were due not to a defective policy, but “because of unique…
A federal court in California has determined that the tasks an employee performed only when working the closing shift for Starbucks Corp. consumed a de minimis amount of time and thus dismissed his claims that the company violated the state Labor Code by failing to pay him for that time. Troester v. Starbucks Corp., No. 12-7677 (C.D. Cal., order entered March 7, 2014). According to the court, the software Starbucks used during the relevant time period required an employee to clock out before initiating the store closing procedure, which involved setting the store alarm and locking the door, tasks that took no more than one to two minutes. Other tasks the employee undertook included walking employees to their cars or staying with them until they were picked up, placing forgotten patio furniture indoors, or even re-entering the store to retrieve an employee’s personal belongings. In the court’s view, “[e]ven assuming all…
A former Chiptole Mexican Grill employee has brought a wage-and-hour complaint against the company, including claims of harassment, gender discrimination, retaliation, battery, and wrongful termination. Roberts v. Chipotle Mex. Grill, Inc., No. BC537487 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed February 26, 2014). Filing on behalf of herself and in a representative capacity on behalf of others, plaintiff Tedi Roberts claims that Chipotle (i) failed to pay legally required overtime or compensation for hours worked; (ii) failed to provide legally required meal periods and rest periods or accurate wage statements; (iii) failed to take action when she complained about sexual harassment and battery; (iv) refused to change her schedule or provide a transfer to help her avoid further harassment, battery, embarrassment, and humiliation; and (v) retaliated against her—terminated her employment—for complaining about the conditions of her employment including through the “protected activity” of social networking. Roberts avers that she has…
