The USCIS announced late yesterday that the H-1B cap for fiscal year 2011 was reached on January 26th.  As a result, there is no further availablility for employers to obtain H-1B visas for foreign workers with employment start dates before Ocotober 1, 2011 (the start of fiscal year 2012) if the application must be counted under the cap.  For the remainder of the fiscal year, only cap-exempt H-1B applications may be filed for new H-1B visa applicants.  In addition, individuals with a cap-counted H-1B may still change employers because they have already been counted.  For those employers looking towards the fall, the fiscal year 2012 filing season begins on April 1, 2011, for employees starting work after October 1, 2011. 

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a male employee, who alleges he was fired because his fiancee filed a sex discrimination claim against the company that employed them both, may pursue a retaliation claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Court, applying the standard it established in the 2006 case Burlington Northern v. White, said there is no dispute that an employee considering filing a discrimination charge might well be dissuaded if she knew her employer would react by firing her fiancee. (In Burlington, the Court ruled that Title VII retaliation is not limited to actions that affect the terms and conditions of employment, but also covers any actions that "well might have dissuaded a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination.")  So the female employee who filed the original sex bias claim would have an action for retaliation. The more difficult question, according to the Court, was whether the male employee is a “person aggrieved” within the meaning of Title VII and thus entitled to sue.

The man, Eric Thompson, alleged that his employer, North American Stainless, fired him three weeks after it received notice that Miriam Regalado, his fiancee (now his wife), filed a sex discrimination claim against the company. Both the district court and appeals court ruled against Thompson, reasoning that while Regalado could state a retaliation claim based on Thompson’s firing, Thompson himself could not make a claim under Title VII because he had not engaged in protected activity. 

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Governor Brownback's proposed budget, released yesterday, would eliminate eight state agencies as a cost-cutting measure.  The Kansas Human Rights Commission is one of the targeted agencies.  Under Brownback's proposal, the KHRC would cease to be its own agency, and would become part of the Attorney General's office, saving $231,375 in fiscal year 2012.  The proposed budget is just that--a proposal.  The Kansas legislature decides whether to accept or reject the governor's recommendations.  Follow Kansas Employment Law Blog to see how this plays out. 

Over three-fourths of companies reported making a bad hire that adversely affected their business in 2010, according to a new survey by careerbuilder.com.  Twenty-one percent said one bad hire cost their company more than $50,000 last year, and ten percent said it cost them between $25,000 and $50,000.  Bad hires can be costly because of lost time and money to recruit and train a replacement, lower productivity, and legal issues.  The most common reason for making a bad hire?  The need to fill a job quickly.  For a more-detailed look at why bad hires create chaos, and the need to promptly cut your losses, click here. 

Hope all of our readers had a happy and safe holiday season.  The bad news is that it's time to get back to work and get started into 2011.  With the turn of the calendar, many of us make resolutions for the new year.  For those of you who have yet to come up with something, here are a few ideas:

• "In 2011 I am going to focus on making sure the company does a better job of documenting personnel issues."
• "I will conduct a random audit of employee personnel files to make sure we are doing a good job keeping records in the appropriate spots."
• "I-9 audit.  Yes, I will do one and look at all our I-9 files."
• "Our company will do a better job with performance evaluations this year.  I will review and coach the management team so all our employees get a timely evaluation with meaningful feedback."
• "I will review our FLSA compliance to make sure we are properly classifying our employees as exempt or non-exempt and not allowing employees to work off the clock."

While this list isn't exhaustive, it should give you a few fun things to choose from.  So pick out a resolution and get started.  If all else fails, you can always resolve to hit the gym every day with all the other post-New Year's Day gym rats.