Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker, P.A. Employment Law Alert Montgomery County, Maryland Passes Mandatory Paid Leave Law In mid-June 2015, the Montgomery County Council unanimously voted to enact a law that mandates paid leave be provided to persons working in the county, including those working in the private sector. The Earned Sick Leave and… More
Maryland
Banning the Box: A Gray Area for Employers?
According to recent reports, roughly one in four adults has a criminal record. As such, the momentum in support of “ban the box” legislation—i.e., legislation that restricts an employer from including a little check box on a job application asking, “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?”—continues to grow. On July 14, 2014, the… More
Lowe’s Takes a Blow with Seven Figure Settlement of Independent Contractor Misclassification Suit
Lowe’s Home Centers agreed to a maximum settlement amount of $6,500,000 plus an additional 25% for attorneys’ fees to settle a class action suit brought by its installation contractors alleging they were misclassified as independent contractors instead of employees. Lowe’s, which offers contractors to install products purchased at its stores in customers’ homes, classified these… More
Maryland Workplace Transgender Bias Ban
On May 15, 2014, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed a law prohibiting discrimination in the workplace based on gender identity. The law, known as the Fairness for All Marylanders Act, applies to places of employment, and also to public accommodations, housing, and credit applications. The law will take effect on October 1, 2014, and will… More
Harassment by Third Party Just as Serious as Harassment by Employees
Think you are off the hook because your employee is complaining that a vendor or a client harassed her? Think again. The Fourth Circuit (covering Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia) recently ruled in Freeman v. Dal-Tile Corp. (4th Cir. 2014) that employers are liable for a third party’s harassment of its… More
Garnishing The Wrong Wages Can Cost You Triple In Maryland
Keeping true to one of our favorite sayings — No Good Deed Goes Unpunished — Maryland’s highest court recently held that employees who are subjected to an inaccurate wage garnishment are eligible to bring a wage claim against their employer in Maryland. Marshall v. Safeway, Inc. (Md. Mar. 26, 2014). That means that if the… More