David B. Ritter is a partner in the Chicago office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP. He is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Law Department and co-chairs the Logistics and Transportation Practice Group.
Q. We recently hired someone we didn’t know has a severe allergy to peanuts. If she even smells peanut butter, she has a severe allergic reaction, requiring her to...
Q. One of our employees was on military leave for six months. He will be reinstated at the same pay and position. While he was gone, all employees in his department...
Q. On three occasions, an employee threatened colleagues with physical violence. After the last incident, she explained to her manager that she is bipolar and going...
Q. We have surveillance cameras in several locations in our workplace that record activity, but no sound. The images can be viewed over the Internet by supervisors and...
Some employers have recently begun to require employees and applicants to provide their passwords or otherwise allow access to their social media accounts. The...
The 7th Circuit has held that employees who participate in employer internal investigations before administrative charges or lawsuits have been filed are not protected...
The 7th Circuit recently considered for the first time whether an employee can be individually liable under a “cat’s paw” theory of retaliation under...
Q. We have an employee who wants to take a chunk of paid time off. She is eligible for FMLA leave. We want to start deducting the time off from her 12-week...
Q. We have an employee who claims to belong to a religious sect I have never heard of. Their alleged holidays always occur on Mondays. Do I have to give her these...
Today’s tight economy has prompted many employers to try to reduce costs—including overtime—by classifying workers as independent contractors instead...
Mass layoffs trigger employer obligations under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires some employers to provide advance written notice...
Employers are sometimes tempted to monitor and record employees’ communications and activities. That can backfire. Fact is, there are limits on how employers can...
Q. Are part-time employees covered by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act? We have a part-time employee who frequently takes time off for...
The recent 7th Circuit decision in Lindsey v. Walgreen Co. addresses the cat’s paw theory of liability in the context of an age discrimination claim. The court...
A recent court case sheds light on whether HIV is a disability under the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. In Horgan v. Simmons, the court held that an HIV-positive man who...
Q. Our time-clock software allows for a five-minute grace period at the start and end of each shift. For example, if the employee’s designated start time is...
Q. One of our employees is off on FMLA leave to care for a sick child. But we know she is also working a second job. We need her back and it seems to me if she can...
