Avram N. Tynes

McGrath North is excited to announce the hiring of new associates Micah Q. Carlson, Jeanne J. Kelley and Avram N. Tynes. All three clerked with the firm during their law school careers and will join the Business and Corporate, Intellectual Property, and Labor, Employment and Benefits teams.  

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued its final regulations for purposes of implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA went into effect in June 2023 and requires employers with 15 or more employees to consider accommodation requests from employees and applicants for “pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions” in the same manner as accommodation requests under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Employers must provide reasonable accommodations to “qualified” individuals with a “known limitation” due to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship.  

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced its final rule addressing worker classifications under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The new rule goes into effect on March 11, 2024 and is very similar to the proposed rule issued by the DOL in 2022. In short, the new rule rescinds the independent contractor rule adopted during the Trump Administration and restores a multi-factor analysis in determining whether workers are properly classified as employees versus independent contractors.  

When employees decide to leave their employer and engage in competition, they frequently overlook their duty of loyalty. Absent a non-compete or non-solicitation restriction, an employee may believe that he or she can freely engage in discussions with clients and customers regarding their intention to leave employment and engage in a competitive business.  

Recently, the General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), Jennifer Abruzzo, issued a memorandum responding to inquiries that became prevalent after the McLaren Macomb decision. In McLaren Macomb, the NLRB took aim at overbroad non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions in severance agreements. The NLRB also found that simply offering a severance agreement to an employee can violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or the “Act”) if the agreement provides severance benefits in exchange for giving up statutory rights under Section 7 of the Act - NLRB Takes Aim At Severance Agreements.