Magee Law Firm, LLC

In an opinion that was released today, the U.S. Supreme Court held that taking an adverse employment action against an employee that is motivated by that employee's sexual orientation violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a form of sex discrimination (which has long been illegal under Title VII). This has been a controversial subject for some time, with the various U.S. Courts of Appeal taking different positions on whether sexual orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination. Today, that issue has been resolved.

There was an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch about the Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations Commission requesting that employers report employees who refuse work and stay off work collecting unemployment. The Commission's request makes sense on its face because the stay at home order has been lifted, and therefore, the employee is no longer unemployed due to covid-19. I am sure the reporter accurately reported on the Commission's request, but there is another side t...o this particular story. There are lawyers who are concerned for their employer clients that reporting the employee to the commission should be done very carefully. Reporting the employee who refuses work causing the commission to halt unemployment payments to the employee is an adverse employment action. To put it simply, the concern is that the employee may have a legitimate reason for not returning to a work place. For example, the employee may have a legitimate fear of returning to a work place without a reasonable accommodation for that person's vulnerability to the virus--over, 60, diabetes etc. If such a person refused to return to work under those circumstances and there has not been an interactive process to accommodate the legitimate concerns of the employee all of a sudden the employer may be defending an American's with Disabilities claim. i am conveying concerns of prominent national employment lawyers. The commission is making the reporting of a refusal to work seem cut and dried and not considering the potential downside to the employer. Seek counsel from your employer on this tricky issue. See more

Attention: Businesses who have had claims for business interruption losses denied by their insurance company ALL MAY NOT BE LOST. Recently filed lawsuits are challenging these denials. If your claim for business interruption losses has been denied by your insurance company, a call to your lawyer may be in order!