With the recent advent of “lifestyle discrimination” protection, the answer is increasingly becoming “no”.  Lifestyle discrimination laws include various statutes enacted across the country spanning topics from tobacco use to personal morality.  While exceptions exist, the law has generally grown more hostile for employers that regulate conduct outside the office. At common law, the at-will employment doctrine enabled employers to terminate employees for any reason or no reason.  If an employer were to find out

Yes, according to recent guidance of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), although the issue is currently pending before the United States Supreme Court.  The EEOC recently issued guidance that extends the protections of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) beyond its currently-recognized limits. Under the PDA, pregnant employees must be treated the same as non-pregnant workers similar in their ability or inability to work.  In 2008, Congress amended the Americans with Disabilities Act to expand

There is no “parent-child” privilege in Virginia according to a federal court.  This means that a son can be compelled to testify against his parent. The case is Under Seal v. United States, 13-4933 (4th Cir., June 17, 2014). By contrast, there is an “attorney-client,” “clergy-communicant,” and “interpreter privilege for both civil and criminal cases.  There is also, for civil cases only, a “physician-patient” privilege.  The rules are set forth in the Virginia Rules of

It happens all the time.  Police smell an odor of marijuana or other drugs on a person, in a home or in a car.  Does the odor give police probable cause to search the person, home, or vehicle without a warrant for Possession of Marijuana in Virginia? In most instances, the answer is “yes.”  In fact, one recent case illustrates the danger of one being in a vehicle wherein others smoked marijuana at some previous

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an employer cannot have a blanket policy against employing individuals with criminal records.  In 2012, the EEOC issued guidance stating that such policies have a disproportionately negative impact upon racial minorities.  Prior to that time, conventional wisdom held that employers could legitimately deny employment to individuals with convictions to protect themselves and their customers from the danger of employee misconduct and accompanying claims of negligent hiring. Rejecting a