Typically this time of year school district administrators ponder whether to “non-renew” non-tenured teachers in response to budget uncertainty, as opposed to waiting for the fiscal picture to become clear and possibly laying off teachers at a later time. Given the state budget crisis, and unprecedented major cuts in funding on the table, the uncertainty […]
A pharmacist was terminated after he claimed he was unable to administer vaccinations to customers. Christopher Stevens sued Rite Aid for discrimination, retaliation and failure to accommodate under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other state non-discrimination laws. The jury awarded him $2.6 million, including $900,000 in non-economic damages. By way of background, Rite […]
What is an Oxford comma? The Oxford comma is an optional comma before the word ‘and’ at the end of a list: for example, “lions, and tigers, and bears… (oh my)”. While use of the Oxford comma has long been the subject of debate, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston has determined its […]
Over the past few weeks, there have been several cyberattacks on Connecticut municipalities and boards of education. On the municipal side, internet thieves have intercepted wire transfer instructions in two Connecticut municipalities resulting in the theft of significant sums. Most recently, an outside party accessed a Superintendent’s email and requested W-2 information for the school […]
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees students with disabilities access to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) and establishes a formal administrative framework within which disputes concerning the denial of FAPE are addressed. In addition, other federal statutes, such as the Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and § 504 […]
A new tide of political involvement has swept the nation after the election of President Donald Trump. Groups of people are marching, participating in Town hall rallies, and organizing at the grass roots level at an unprecedented rate. Recently, the group that organized the Women’s March on Washington has announced that they are organizing a Woman’s […]
Ever since the enactment of Public Act 16-67 last summer, school employers and contractors servicing them have faced the challenge of complying with new requirements for background checks for employees who will have direct contact with students. The central aspect of the legislation is a prohibition against offering employment to an applicant for a position […]
President Trump has tapped National Labor Relations Board Member Philip Miscimarra to be acting Chairman. Mr. Miscimarra will replace Mark Gaston Pearce who served as the NLRB Chairman under President Obama since 2011. Mr. Miscimarra is a graduate of the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Law and the Wharton School of Business. Prior to joining […]
In late December of 2016, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued information to school districts regarding how the use of restraint and seclusion may result in discrimination against qualified students with disabilities in violation of Federal laws that prohibit disability discrimination, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section […]
A recent judgment awarded $250,000 in compensatory damages (including emotional distress) resulting from an employer’s inaction against a customer who for more than a year engaged in a pattern of harassment including inappropriately touching the employee and stalking. In EEOC v. Costco, the EEOC proved that Costco failed to take steps to protect an employee from […]
