Featured Articles

NLRB Administrative Law Judge: Facebook Firings Illegal

Daniel Schwartz
September 07, 2011 11:52

For a while now, there’s been a lot of chatter about the NLRB’s take on social media and whether employees’ use of Facebook could be “protected concerted activity”.  I’ve done many recaps including here and here. Now, for the first time, an administrative law...

Being Wary of the Virtual Workplace

Daniel Schwartz
July 26, 2011 15:59

Is the “Virtual Workplace” — where employees can telecommute from home or merely check e-mail via a smartphone — a dangerous place for employers? No. At least not any more so than the brick and mortar one. Sure there are risks to manage, but employers are used to managing...

Four Years and Countless Posts Later….

Daniel Schwartz
September 15, 2011 12:07

Four years ago this month, the Connecticut Employment Law Blog was born.  (You can view the very first entry about civil union discrimination here.) It has grown up a lot since then (and even went through an image makeover earlier this year), but I hope that I’ve maintained one thing...

The “Standard” Provisions in an Employment Settlement Agreement

Daniel Schwartz
September 06, 2011 11:44

The title of this post is, of course, a bit misleading.  Any lawyer will tell you that each employment case you may have is unique and that any settlement must take into account the facts and circumstances of the particular case. All true.  And, if your company is negotiating a settlement, you...

Summary Judgment For Tunxis Community College On Claims of Gender Discrimination

Daniel Schwartz
August 17, 2011 12:42

As I’ve lamented from my very first post, too often the press focuses on new cases that are brought without placing them in context. Yet every month, federal and state courts in Connecticut consider dozens of employment law cases that never make the headlines. One such case is Jacobs v....

What Employers Need to Know About Google+

Daniel Schwartz
July 11, 2011 12:50

Long time readers of the blog may be getting a feeling of deja vu with the title of the post. After all, it was about two years ago that I wrote about Google Wave.  That product was going to change the world way we communicate. (Fortunately, I didn’t make such bold predictions, other than...

Court: No Injury by Employer = No Standing = No Case

Daniel Schwartz
July 29, 2011 15:35

The running joke by employment lawyers is that even though Connecticut is an at-will employment state, employees can sue their employers at any time for any reason or no reason at all.  (I’ll wait while you laugh groan.) The joke touches on the perception by employers that employees can...

A Lesson In Social Media from Hurricane Irene

Daniel Schwartz
August 29, 2011 14:55

First, a warning: Today’s post will have little to do with employment law, but once you read it, I hope you can understand the significance of it. The people of Connecticut have suffered (and are continuing to suffer) greatly from Hurricane (and Tropical Storm) Irene.  She left over HALF of...

What the Nation’s Lawyers Propose For Employment Law

Daniel Schwartz
August 15, 2011 11:47

When the ABA last visited Toronto in the 1990s for its annual meeting, cell phones and the Internet weren’t in heavy rotation.  What a difference a decade makes.  And, except for the mobile service providers who likely made thousands of dollars, it was a lot harder to connect than I...

The Seven Updates To Consider to Your Employee Handbook

Daniel Schwartz
July 20, 2011 14:07

With all the legislative developments in Connecticut over the last year or so, it’s tough to keep track of all of the changes that your company needs to consider to update your employee handbook and employment policies. Here’s a (non-exhaustive) list of some of the changes to consider...