Saturday, April 30, 2016
- EEOC: Lawsuit filed alleging religious discrimination under Title VII against employer who fired employees who failed to meet deadline for requesting religious exemptions to employer’s flu vaccination requirement, stating that arbitrary deadline resulted in denial of reasonable accommodation of employee’s religious beliefs
- Law Court: In vacating Probate Court’s Rule 66 contempt order removing personal representative from Estate for failing to obtain a bond following demand of an interested party, and awarding attorney’s fees in pursuing the motion, the court held that the fact that contempt motion was filed by an attorney as an officer of the court (subject to Rule 11) did not obviate requirement that contempt motion be filed under oath
- US District Court ME: Magistrate Judge granted motion for summary judgment for defendant on Fourth Amendment false arrest claim because plaintiff had been convicted of the crime for which he was arrested and § 1983 claim would necessarily imply the invalidity of the conviction, but denied summary judgment on Fourth Amendment excessive force claim (plaintiff stated that he did not resist arrest, he was slammed against a cruiser, had his arm twisted up behind his back, and was then thrown forcefully to the ground while handcuffed), including claims against bystander officers who had a realistic opportunity to prevent the use of excessive force by fellow officer
- US District Court ME: Magistrate Judge granted defendant’s motion to amend answer to include counterclaim after deadline to amend expired where defendant first learned of basis for counterclaim during deposition and conducted investigation within a reasonable period of time and filed the motion soon after completing the investigation
- EEOC: Jeffrey Burstein Named New Regional Attorney for EEOC’s New York District
- ME Dept of Labor: March/April Employer Update includes statewide listing of no-cost courses for employers on complying with employment regulations
