Law Commons^™

Don’T Lose The Remote: An Employer’S Guide To Remote Employee And Trade Secret Retention Without Non-Competes, Kayla Lya Pfeifer

Mercer Law Review

This Comment discusses potential employer solutions to the intersectional challenges of balancing trade secret protection and employee retention in a post-COVID-19 remote employment market. First, this Comment provides an overview of the FTC’s proposed rule to ban non-competes, as well as the political context and history behind the FTC’s enhanced focus on policing anti-competitive business behaviors. Additionally, this Comment explains the utility behind non-competes and contextualizes the ban’s potential effects through a legal survey of non-compete enforceability in the U.S. To illustrate the steep challenge of trade secret protection in the modern employment market, this Comment separately analyzes the rise …

Different Sides Of The Same Coin: How The Eleventh Circuit Deepened The Circuit Split For An Americans With Disabilities Act Failure-To-Accommodate Claim In Beasley V. O’Reilly Auto Parts, Anna Carr Hanks

Mercer Law Review

Through its decision in Beasley v. O’Reilly Auto Parts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit deepened the split among the circuit courts nationwide by explicitly requiring an adverse employment action in failure-to-accommodate claims under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Through this opinion, the Eleventh Circuit joined the minority of circuits and suggested that the Supreme Court of the United States may soon need to revisit this issue to resolve the uncertainty stemming from this fundamental disagreement among the circuits.

Labor And Employment Law, W. Jonathan Martin Iii, Alyssa K. Peters, Patricia-Anne Brownback, David S. Cromer

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys revisions to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and decisions interpreting Georgia law from June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023, that affect labor and employment relations for Georgia employers.

Labor And Employment, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Patricia-Anne Brownback

Mercer Law Review

This Article focuses on recent cases concerning federal labor and employment laws. The following is a discussion of those opinions.

Managers Are People, Too! The Eleventh Circuit’S Rejection Of The “Manager Exception” Allows Human Resource And Managerial Employees To Bring Title Vii Retaliation Claims, Kaitlyn Myles

Mercer Law Review

Human resource (HR) managers undertake important tasks at companies. For example, a company may employ a human resource manager to manage internal issues, such as those affecting lower-level employees. That HR manager may come to the conclusion that a lower-level employee, having faced some discrimination from the company, had their rights violated. In that situation, the HR manager may advocate for the employee against the company. Subsequently, the company terminates the HR manager for siding with the employee over the company. Can the HR manager successfully bring a retaliation suit against the company? It depends. More specifically, the answer depends …

Labor And Employment Law, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Alyssa K. Peters, Patricia-Anne Brownback, David S. Cromer

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys revisions to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and decisions interpreting Georgia law from June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022, that affect labor and employment relations for Georgia employers.

Labor And Employment, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Patricia-Anne Brownback

Mercer Law Review

This Article focuses on recent cases concerning federal labor and employment laws. The following is a discussion of those opinions.

Not So Special! Georgia Court Of Appeals Clarifies Special Circumstance And Special Mission Exceptions To Vicarious Liability, Samantha Thompson

Mercer Law Review

The ever-increasing mobility of today’s workforce threatens employers with a risk of vicarious liability for injuries arising from their employees’ driving under the doctrine of respondeat superior. Although common law protects employers from liability for injuries arising from an employee’s commute to or from work, the special circumstance exception and the special mission exception can create vicarious liability for a Georgia employer. These exceptions bring an employee’s commute within the scope of employment when an employee acts under a special circumstance or in furtherance of a special mission at the time of an automobile accident; this creates vicarious liability for …

Labor And Employment Law, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Alyssa K. Peters, Patricia-Anne Brownback, Aaron Chang, Amanda Morejon

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys revisions to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and decisions interpreting Georgia law from June 1, 2020, through May 31, 2021, that affect labor and employment relations for Georgia employers

Labor And Employment, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Patricia-Anne Brownback

Mercer Law Review

This Article focuses on case law concerning federal laws pertaining to labor and employment. The following is a discussion of those opinions.

Whose Job Is It Anyway: How The Statutory And Regulatory Scheme Prohibiting Employers From Hiring Undocumented Workers Falls Short Of Achieving Its Intended Purpose, Antonio Solomon

Mercer Law Review

Illegal immigration and jobs are and have been hot-button issues in American politics for quite some time. The further politicization of immigration policies and immigrants themselves in the 2016 presidential election cycle only exacerbated the prescience of America’s illegal immigration woes. Inflammatory rhetoric suggesting that illegal immigrants are “stealing” jobs from American citizens permeated the political landscape in 2016. Rhetoric, which, at the same time, gives little credence to the fact that some American companies and industries actively lure immigrant workers as a source of cheap labor, which, in turn, allows those companies to offer their goods and services to …

Better To Analyze A Statute Than To Psychoanalyze Congress? Eleventh Circuit Widens Circuit Split Over Proper Causation Standard In False Claims Act Retaliation Cases, Douglas E. Comin

Mercer Law Review

“You’re fired!” Employees across America hear these words every day. Usually, the federal government has no interest in whether or why an employee is fired. But when companies that do business with the federal government improperly fire employees for reporting fraud, the interests of the federal government and the general public are directly implicated. The implications are clear: employees suffer the tribulations of wrongful termination, the government feels the strain on its resources, and American taxpayers ultimately foot the bill.

Healthcare providers and defense contractors are some of the federal government’s largest business partners. Because the federal government is a …

Labor & Employment Law, W. Jonathan Martin Iii, Alyssa K. Peters, Patricia-Anne Brownback, Graham Newsome, Aaron Chang

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys revisions to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and decisions interpreting Georgia law from June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020, that affect labor and employment relations for Georgia employers.

Labor And Employment, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Patricia-Anne Brownback

Mercer Law Review

This Article focuses on case law concerning federal laws pertaining to labor and employment. The following is a discussion of those opinions.

Labor & Employment Law, W. Melvin Haas Iii, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Alyssa K. Peters, Patricia-Anne Brownback

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys revisions to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.)1 and decisions interpreting Georgia law from June 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019,2 that affect labor and employment relations for Georgia employers.

1. Recent Legislation
2. Wrongful Termination
3. Respondeat Superior
4. Business Torts

Employment Discrimination, John E. Duvall

Mercer Law Review

Several interesting and noteworthy employment discrimination cases were on the docket of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit during the survey period, and one Supreme Court of the United States employment decision was announced during the period as well. The vast majority of the Eleventh Circuit's employment discrimination cases continue to be decided in unpublished opinions, most of which were per curiam opinions affirming grants of summary judgments to defendant employers. This year's Article is focused on reported decisions, commenting only on two unpublished decisions. In addition to the cases discussed in this Article, by the …

Labor And Employment Law, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Patricia-Anne Upson

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit precedent from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. This Article focuses on case law concerning laws enforced by the United States Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board. The following is a discussion of those opinions.

Labor And Employment Law, W. Melvin Haas Iii, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Alyssa K. Peters, Patricia-Anne Upson

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys revisions to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and decisions interpreting Georgia law from June 1, 2016 to May 31, 2017, that affect labor and employment relations for Georgia employers.

Employment Discrimination, Peter Reed Corbin, John E. Duvall

Mercer Law Review

The field of Employment Discrimination continued to be alive and well during the 2016 survey period. Although the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit continued its recent trend of issuing the vast majority of its employment discrimination cases as unpublished opinions (often per curiam opinions affirming a summary judgment for the employer), the court of appeals rendered far more published opinions during the survey period than has recently been its practice. The Eleventh Circuit issued six published Title VII opinions, and fifteen published employment discrimination opinions overall. For instance, in Villarreal v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., …

Labor And Employment Law, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, F. Damon Kitchen, Gary R. Wheeler, Patricia-Anne Upson

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit precedent from January 1, 2016 to December 21, 2016.1 This Article will focus on case law concerning laws enforced by the United States Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board. The following is a discussion of those opinions.

Employer Beware: Changing The Landscape Of Employment Discrimination Claims At The Summary Judgment Stage, Matthew Bottoms

Mercer Law Review

In Quigg v. Thomas County School District, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit changed the summary judgment framework for mixed-motive employment discrimination cases. The ruling in Quigg will affect both employers and employees and will lead to more mixed-motive discrimination claims reaching the jury, rather than being dismissed through summary judgment. The newly-adopted framework takes the burden-shifting standard out of summary judgment, and many commentators consider it a much more plaintiff-friendly framework. Under the new framework, in order to survive a motion for summary judgment on a mixed-motive discrimination claim, all the plaintiff must do …

The Uber Million Dollar Question: Are Uber Drivers Employees Or Independent Contractors?, Richard A. Bales, Christian Patrick Woo

Mercer Law Review

It was a snowy evening in Paris when 2008 LeWeb Technology Conference attendees Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp were trying to catch a taxicab. Frustrated with being stuck in the cold without a ride, the two eventually found a way back to their apartment on the outskirts of the city and started talking with a few other entrepreneurs about potential start-ups. Not surprisingly, an idea they discussed that night was a smartphone application, or app, that could pick up passengers the moment they requested a ride. Although neither Kalanick nor Camp probably knew it at the time, this simple idea …

Compliance Requires Inspection: The Failure Of Gender Equal Pay Efforts In The United States, Renalia Dubose

Mercer Law Review

On Friday, January 29, 2016, President Barack Obama expanded a previous executive order by requiring the Department of Labor to collect wage data based on gender, race, and ethnicity from contractors with at least 100 employees doing business with the federal government. That previous executive order was the April 8, 2014 Executive Order 13665 entitled Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation Information and was designed to amend the September 24, 1965 Executive Order 11246 entitled Equal Employment Opportunity by President Lyndon Johnson. Executive Order 13665 was issued to require transparency concerning compensation among private entities doing business with the federal government …

Labor & Employment Law, W. Melvin Haas Iii, William M. Clifton Iii, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Alyssa K. Peters

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys revisions to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and decisions interpreting Georgia law from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016 that affect labor and employment relations for Georgia employers.

An Onerous Burden: The Impact Of Nassar Upon Mcdonnell Douglas In The Eleventh Circuit, Alec Chappell

Mercer Law Review

Following a flood of employment discrimination and retaliation cases, the United States Supreme Court in University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar announced that an employee alleging retaliation must prove that the employer's motive to retaliate constituted a "but for" cause of the actions adverse to the employee. In addition to creating an awkward and unprecedented union of employment law and traditional tort principles of causation,' this decision upended the conventional application of the framework set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green and left the lower courts to pick up the pieces. ...

This Comment explores the responses …

Employment Discrimination, Peter Reed Corbin, John E. Duvall

Mercer Law Review

Clearly the most significant case handed down during the 2015 survey period was the March 2015 decision by the United States Supreme Court in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. In Young, the Supreme Court decided that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) does, in fact, require employers to offer workplace accommodations to pregnant employees in order to remain on the job. This case has almost certainly required a host of employers to review and probably revise the leave policies they had in place prior to the decision being handed down. Otherwise, the 2015 survey period was a busy, …

Labor And Employment Law, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, F. Damon Kitchen, Gary R. Wheeler

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit precedent from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015. The following is a discussion of those opinions.

Contraceptive Coverage Falls, No More: Using Rfra To Limit The Scope Of Religious Challenges To The Aca's Contraceptive Mandate, M. Catherine Norman

Mercer Law Review

Contraceptive coverage is a required part of all new insurance plans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), but many employers' are exempt from this requirement. Other employers have challenged the contraceptive requirement on religious grounds. In East Texas Baptist University v. Burwell, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held as follows: (1) the plaintiffs are either automatically exempt from the contraceptive-coverage mandate or eligible for accommodation upon application; (2) the challenged provisions do not violate rights to religious freedom under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA); (3) RFRA applies only to …

Employment Discrimination, Peter Reed Corbin, John E. Duvall

Mercer Law Review

Perhaps the most significant cases during the 2014 survey period were those that were not handed down by United States Supreme Court, rather than the cases that were decided. Easily the most talked about case during the survey period was the case pending before the Supreme Court, Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., in which the Court will decide whether the Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires employers to offer work place accommodations to pregnant employees in order to remain on the job. Another high profile case is Mach Mining, LLC v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in which the Supreme Court will …

Labor And Employment Law, W. Melvin Haas Iii, William M. Clifton Iii, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Alyssa K. Peters

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys revisions to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and decisions interpreting Georgia law from June 1, 2013 to May 31, 2014 that affect labor and employment relations for Georgia employers.