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Employment Law

New Law Limits Virginia Employers’ Access to Social Media Accounts

If you have questions related to this article, please contact our Employment Law attorneys: Doug Taylor rdougtaylor@beankinney.com or Maureen Carr mcarr@beankinney.com. Effective July 1, 2015, employers in Virginia will be prohibited from requesting usernames and passwords for social media accounts of current employees or applicants. Specifically, Va. Code 40.1-28.7:5 will prohibit employers from: Requiring a…

April 27, 2015

Employment Law

Virginia May Soon Join Maryland in Prohibiting Employers from Asking for Social Media Passwords

Virginia appears poised to join Maryland and a handful of other states that ban employers from asking current employees and applicants for access to their social media accounts, like Facebook. Earlier this month, the Virginia legislature passed a bill that precludes an employer from requesting or compelling an employee to: 1) divulge passwords or usernames…

March 26, 2015

Employment Law

All Legally Married Same-Sex Couples Now Covered Under FMLA

Effective March 27, 2015, the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, will extend coverage to all legally married same-sex couples to take FMLA leave to provide care for their spouse. FMLA leave entitles eligible employees, as defined by the statute, to take unpaid leave for a “qualifying event” for a period of up to…

March 24, 2015

Employment Law

March Madness & Employee Morale: A Winning Combination

Selection Sunday has passed, the brackets are set and employers across the US find themselves once again on the eve of March Madness. Businesses are faced with the issue of whether to embrace the “madness” or to strictly enforce office policies, which likely prohibit distractions such as streaming basketball games and participating in bracket pools.…

March 17, 2015

Employment Law

Cunningham v. Feinberg: Virginia Employers May be Answerable in Maryland Courts for Unpaid Wages

In a case with potential significance for many Virginia employers, the Court of Appeals of Maryland recently decided in Cunningham v. Feinberg that the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law (“MWPCL”) may be applicable to unpaid wage claims arising from employment agreements entered into in Virginia. Thus, a Virginia employer that does not exercise care…

February 10, 2015

Employment Law

Does the Pregnancy Discrimination Act Require Employers to Provide Light Duty Accommodations to Pregnant Employees?

Thirty-five years ago, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”) established that it is unlawful for employers with fifteen or more employees to discriminate against pregnant workers “because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.” That remains the basic law of the land today. What has remained unclear, however, is whether Congress,…

January 16, 2015

Employment Law

Data Security in a Technological World

The Uniform Trade Secrets Act, adopted by 47 states including Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, generally defines protectable trade secrets as information that derives independent economic value from not being generally known or readily ascertainable and that is subject to reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy. In an age of electronic information storage…

September 12, 2014

Employment Law

Splits Are Not the Best for Business: Uncertainty after Conflicting Decisions on the Scope of Obamacare Subsidies

The recent decisions by the Fourth Circuit and the D.C. Circuit address a controversy that could have far-reaching consequences for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”). Under the ACA, states and the District of Columbia are authorized to establish health insurance market places (“exchanges”) where each state’s citizens may purchase health insurance.…

August 18, 2014

Employment Law

Fairfax Circuit Court Strikes Down Noncompete as Overbroad – Part 2

Part 1 of this post discussed a suit brought by Wings LLC to enforce a noncompete against two defector employees. The letter opinion said that the noncompete was unenforceable. In this post, I examine the role of noncompetition agreements and when other agreements may be better options in cases such as this one. The Role…

April 28, 2014

Employment Law

Fairfax Circuit Court Strikes Down Noncompete as Overbroad – Part 1

On March 6, 2014, a Fairfax Circuit judge denied a preliminary injunction in a suit brought by Wings LLC to enforce a noncompete against two defector employees. In a letter opinion, Judge Bruce D. White said the noncompete was unenforceable because the geographical limits were overbroad. The ruling is not particularly unprecedented but offers another…

April 15, 2014