Virginia’s Veteran Preferential Hiring Law, Va. Code § 40.1-27.2 (“VPHL,” titled “Preference for veterans and spouses,”) allows employers to choose to grant preference in hiring and promotion to veterans or the spouses of disabled veterans.  Definition of Disabled Veteran The VPHL generally defines “disabled veteran” for the purposes of its provisions as a veteran who has been...Read More

In Helix Energy Sols. Grp., Inc. v. Hewitt, 143 S. Ct. 677 (2023), the Supreme Court held that the salary-basis test for certain exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act is not met when the employee at issue is paid a day rate, even when the day rate exceeds the required minimum weekly salary level. More specifically, the...Read More

Virginia’s Civil Air Patrol Leave Law, Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:6 (“CAPLL,” titled “Employers to allow leave for volunteer members of Civil Air Patrol; civil remedy”), provides that employees who are volunteer members of the Civil Air Patrol are entitled to limited amounts of job-protected leave for training for or responding to emergency missions.  Job-Protected Leave...Read More

In Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., 575 U.S. 768 (2015), the Supreme Court held that to prove a religion-based disparate treatment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a job applicant need only show that her need for a religious accommodation was a motivating factor in...Read More

In Torres v. Texas Dep’t of Pub. Safety, 142 S. Ct. 2455 (2022), the Supreme Court held that States do not have sovereign immunity against damages claims for servicemember employment discrimination in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). The Court determined that by ratifying the Constitution, the States...Read More

Virginia’s Misclassification Anti-Retaliation Law, Va. Code § 40.1-33.1 (“MARL,” titled “Retaliatory actions prohibited; civil penalty”), provides that employers shall not discharge, penalize, or take any retaliatory action against an employee or independent contractor for reporting, or planning to report, to an appropriate authority an employer’s failure to properly classify an individual as an employee and failure to...Read More

In Harbourt v. PPE Casino Resorts Maryland, LLC, 820 F.3d 655 (4th Cir. 2016) the Fourth Circuit held that under the Fair Labor Standards Act, compensable “work,” for which the FLSA requires employers to pay at least minimum wage, broadly encompasses physical or mental exertion, whether burdensome or not, controlled or required by the employer primarily for its...Read More

The Virginia Employee Social Media Privacy Act, VA Code § 40.1-28.7:5 (“VESMPA”), titled “Social media accounts of current and prospective employees,” generally prohibits Virginia employers from (1) requiring employees or prospective employees to disclose their social media usernames and passwords or (2) to “friend” or “connect” with the employer on social media. As with many laws, however,...Read More

In Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, P.L.L.C., 142 S. Ct. 1562 (2022), the Supreme Court held that emotional distress damages are not recoverable in private actions to enforce the antidiscrimination provisions of the Rehabilitation Act or the Affordable Care Act. Facts The plaintiff, Jane Cummings, was deaf and legally blind. She asked Premier Rehab to...Read More

The Virginia Equal Pay Act (“VEPA”), VA Code § 40.1-28.6, prohibits Virginia employers from paying employees less than employees of the opposite sex for doing the same work. The VEPA is similar to the federal Equal Pay Act and contains similar exceptions and remedies, but only covers employers not covered by the Equal Pay Act.  PROTECTIONS The VEPA...Read More