In Fouche v. New Jersey Transit, No. 11-3031, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 14524, (3rd Cir. July 16, 2012), a bus driver sued his employer under Title VII and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination for refusing to accommodate his religion-based request not to drive on Sundays. Rejecting the plaintiff’s claim, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that the plaintiff’s requested accommodation would have caused the employer an undue hardship, insofar as it would have required the employer to shift some of the Sunday driving to other drivers, and it would have resulted in a breach of the seniority provision of the union’s collective bargaining agreement.
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TN Validity Period to Increase from One to Three Years
On May 5, USCIS announced its intention to increase the period of admission of Trade NAFTA (TN) professional workers from one to three years. A proposed regulation was published in the Federal Register on May 9 and called for a 30-day public comment period, which has since expired on June 9.
Puerto Rico–Qualified Retirement Plans: 2020 Year-End Amendments Deadline Coming Soon
All of the recent changes to the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules of Section 401(a)(9) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, except for provisions related to the handling of tax-free rollovers, may be applied to Puerto Rico participants in dual-qualified plans (i.e., U.S.-qualified retirement plans that cover both U.S. and Puerto Rico employees) exactly as they are applied to U.S. participants. Puerto Rico participants are, therefore, eligible for the recently extended required beginning date and may waive taking RMDs for 2020.
Wisconsin Court Holds Discharging Employee Because of Misconduct Caused by Disability Can Be Discrimination
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has affirmed a decision holding that a call center employee with bipolar disorder proved that he was discharged “because of” his disability by establishing he was discharged for misconduct—i.e., avoiding calls—that was caused by his disability.