June 2017 Federal Employment Law Training Group Newsletter
There was a lot of talk about the James Comey testimony last week being a “vindication” of certain claims that were made by certain people in The Administration (you know who you are). Here at FELTG, we were pleased about how some of the topics that came up vindicate some of the strategies we’ve been teaching for many years:
- Supervisors should keep contemporaneous notes when dealing with problem employees.
- Hillen Factors are a good way to tell who’s lying and who’s telling the truth (e.g., reputation).
We’ve always felt that what we teach is important. Seeing some of our principles in play out on live TV, with the Presidency arguably hanging in the balance, made us gosh-darned proud. So, join the crowd. Come to our seminars. Have us come to you with a custom onsite program. You just never know when you might be summoned to Capitol Hill and asked to explain what you know and when you learned it. If that happens, you’re going to feel a lot better if you’ve been trained in management self-defense at one of our federal employment law programs. Lordy, we hope you come.
Good News, Y’all: Sometimes Telework is NOT a Reasonable Accommodation
By Deborah Hopkins, June 14, 2017 Out of all the training classes we present here at FELTG, maybe the biggest area where we get questions, comments, complaints, and yes even tears of frustration, is the discussion of telework as a reasonable accommodation for...
Field Report from the EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office’s “Meet the Administrative Judges” Program
By Deryn Sumner, June 14, 2017 Last month, the EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office held an event that provides an opportunity to agency representatives, complainant’s advocates, and others to informally meet the administrative judges and ask questions. I’ll begin this...
Well, We Never Saw This One Before
By William Wiley, June 14, 2017 Here at FELTG, we’ve seen a lot of things. In fact, sometimes we smile when someone comes up to us at a seminar and says, “I have a very unusual situation.” Ha, ha, ha, we chuckle silently. It might be unusual to you, Buddy, but we’ve...
Psychiatric Examinations – One More Time
By Barbara Haga, June 14, 2017 Last month I wrote about “unnecessary barriers” that are included in agency performance plans and union contracts, that inhibit the ability of an agency to take action on performance problems. This month we’re going to take a look at...
Establishing a Successful Good Faith Defense to Compensatory Damages in Failure to Accommodate a Disability Cases
By Deryn Sumner, June 14, 2017 Section 102 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 allows for the agency to escape liability for compensatory damages where the agency failed to accommodate an employee’s disability, if the agency can demonstrate it made a good faith effort to...
The Fate of Political Appointees
By William Wiley, June 14, 2017 Oh, so many questions do we get. And this one is asking to peer into the secret world of political appointment. Dear FELTG Know-it-Alls: I have a question about something you posted in your 5/24/17 post entitled, "Big News in...
When is Front Pay an Appropriate Remedy?
By Deryn Sumner, June 14, 2017 Although not addressed very often in decisions awarding remedies, front pay is an available remedy in federal sector EEO complaints. As Management Directive 110, Chapter 11 tells us, it is only appropriate in very limited circumstances:...
What the Devil are Essential Functions?
By William Wiley, June 14, 2017 I wish I was as smart as Ernie Hadley and Deb Hopkins. Ernie and Deb teach the fabulous FELTG EEOC Law Week seminar at least twice a year. A big part of that program is an explanation of an agency’s obligation to accommodate an...