EdLawConnect Blog

Beginning in 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice investigated complaints against the University of California, Berkeley, that Berkeley’s free audio and video online content was not fully accessible to individuals with disabilities. The primary complaint was filed by the National Association for the Deaf on behalf of members of the public who alleged they could not adequately access course content ...

In early January 2017, the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, established under the Obama Administration in 2014, released “Preventing and Addressing Campus Sexual Misconduct: A Guide for University and College Presidents, Chancellors, and Senior Administrators.” The Guide, which is available online (click here), offers insight and practical recommendations in six ...

On November 22, 2016, the State Chancellor's Office for California Community Colleges and the Statewide EEO and Diversity Advisory Committee published a new EEO and Diversity Best Practices Handbook.  This Handbook provides examples of community colleges which have implemented each of the nine “multiple methods” of promoting Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”).  The full Handbook containing ...

On November 22, 2016, a federal court in the Eastern District of Texas halted implementation the Department of Labor’s rule amending the salary basis test for overtime exemptions in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The rule was scheduled to take effect December 1, 2016.  (Nevada v. DOL (E.D.Tex. 11/22/16) No. 4:16-cv-00731.) The court granted a preliminary injunction, which temporarily delays the ...

New regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor require employers (public and private) to post a revised Federal Minimum Wage poster and a revised Federal Employee Polygraph Act poster effective August 1, 2016.

The Federal Minimum Wage Poster now includes a section describing the rights of nursing mothers under the Fair Labor Standards Act. It also discusses independent contractor misclassification ...

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was enacted in 1991 to lessen the impact of calling practices that invade consumer privacy and threaten public safety.  One such intrusive calling practice is known as a “robocall.”  Robocalls are made either with an automated telephone dialing system (autodialer) or with a prerecorded or artificial voice.  The TCPA and its implementing rules prohibit ...

California’s Gun-Free School Zone Act (Penal Code section 626.9) makes possessing a firearm in a school zone punishable as a crime.  Criminal liability attaches unless the individual (1) has obtained the permission of the school district superintendent or equivalent school authority to carry a firearm or (2) falls within the exemptions under the statute.

The statute does not limit the ability of a school ...

On February 11, 2016, a federal district court in New York allowed a former executive to proceed with his defamation lawsuit against the company that terminated him. (McCusker v. Hibu PLC (E.D.N.Y. 2/11/16) 2016 WL 538472.)

On August 25, 2015, we discussed the U.S. Department of Justice’s expectation for making websites accessible to disabled individuals, even in advance of the DOJ issuing any accessibility regulations. (See “Department of Justice Accelerates Expectations for Website Accessibility”) Late last year the DOJ released its Fall Statement of Regulatory Priorities. The statement announced the DOJ (1 ...

On December 14, 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a “final interim rule” for registering unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, just in time for the holiday season.  (Note: Although the new rule goes into effect on December 21, 2015, the FAA has also created a second “notice and comment” period, and claims it may modify the interim ...