Albo & Oblon publishes the popular Virginia Employment Law Alert on a quarterly basis.  This newsletter tracks the employment law cases and issues of note in the Fourth Circuit (Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and the Carolinas) and the D.C. Circuit ( Washington, D.C.). 

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October 2006

• Are emotional distress damages taxable?
• Do racist comments about the D.C. area snipers create a hostile work environment?
• Are Saudi Arabia royal bodyguards entitled to overtime pay?
• What is the latest on non-compete/non-competition law in Virginia?
• Is it legal to blackball previous whistleblowers?
• Is one who discloses that he has HIV protected from employment termination?
• And more!

• Why did a Fairfax County, Virginia jury award $3.5 million against Raytheon in an employment discrimination case?
• When a female supervisor flirts with a male subordinate is she sexually harassing him?
• Is the elimination of a position created to accommodate an employee evidence of gender discrimination?
• How did an illegal alien win a $750,000 job injury settlement?
• Is a commission salesman entitled to commissions for post-termination bookings?
• And more!

• Why did the Virginia Supreme Court strike down a local government contractor's non-compete agreement as overly broad?
• Was a former HR director criminally convicted of fraud and extortion for taking the company's computers and files?
• How a $1 million employment law verdict was reversed because the winning claims were not raised in the EEOC.
• Did you know that some lewid comments are not enough to create a hostile work environment?
• Is the ability of a kidney patient to use the bathroom a "major life activity" under the ADA?
• Why didn't an employer's replacement of a terminated employee with another from the same protected class leave them open to a discrimination claim?
• Is sexual orientation now a protected class in Virginia?
• And more!

• When is it ok to have ex parte discussions with a company's current and former employees?
• Is an employer liable for an employee's traffic accident?
• Why couldn't a CIA agent pursue a race discrimination claim?
• Why are illegal immigrants entitled to workman's compensation benefits in Maryland?
• And more

• What are five essential provisions to include in an employee manual?
• Is an employee who threatens the safety of other employees "disabled?"
• Can an arbitration agreement be enforced if the employer had the ability to change its terms?
• Was a lawyer properly disqualified from a case for secretly using a client's employee as a "mole?"
• Will a D.C. court "blue pencil" (amend to make enforceable) an arbitration agreement?
• Does an employee have the burden of identifying company positions that would accommodate his disability?
• And more!

• Do employees still need direct evidence of age discrimination in order to sue their employers?
• Is an employee who complains of "lack of stamina" and of problems "concentrating" disabled?
• Can an employee insist on wearing Mennonite attire?
• Can union employees "talk back" to their supervisors?
• And more!

• What new law protects employees called to active duty in the military?
• Can non-union employees be forced to wear uniforms with a union logo?
• Is an employee entitled to extend FMLA leave beyond 12 weeks by using paid leave?
• Must an employer pay for time employees spend waiting at and walking to a worksite?
• And more!