Jurate Schwartz
Special Employment Law Counsel
Jurate Schwartz is a special employment law counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department. She devotes her practice to counseling clients in employment matters, as well as representing employers in federal and state litigations, arbitrations and administrative proceedings.
Jurate’s practice includes providing advice on compliance with various laws affecting the workplace, including the FMLA, ADEA, Title VII, ADA, FLSA and similar state and local laws. She counsels clients on developing, implementing and enforcing personnel policies and procedures and reviewing and revising employee handbooks under federal, state and local law. Jurate is experienced in conducting wage-and-hour audits under federal and state wage-hour laws and advising clients on classification issues. She also assists clients in drafting employment, consulting and separation agreements and various restrictive covenants.
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The Colorado Wage Protection Act, which amended the existing Colorado Wage Act, § 8-4-101, et seq., governs payment of wages for work performed in Colorado. The Act became effective on January 1, 2015, and is enforced by the Colorado Division of Labor (“Division”). Under the Act, vacation pay, earned in accordance with the terms of … Continue Reading
On December 4, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld summary judgment in favor of an employer against a pregnant employee who had requested FMLA, who was told by her direct supervisor “that [her] pregnancy was affecting [her] effectiveness” and who had complained about this to the employer’s Ethics Hotline. In … Continue Reading
On December 2, 2014, Miami-Dade County Commission amended the County’s Human Rights Ordinance (Chapter 11A of the Code of Ordinances of Miami Dade County, Florida) to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and expression. The new law defines “gender identity” as “a person’s innate, deeply felt psychological identification as a man, woman or some other … Continue Reading
In April 2014, the Florida Supreme Court, resolving the split in the Florida District Courts of Appeal, held that the Florida Civil Rights Act (“FCRA”) prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of pregnancy. Delva v. Continental Group, Inc., 137 So. 3d 371 (Fla. 2014). In its 6-1 decision, the Supreme Court found that “the … Continue Reading
The Florida Civil Rights Act (“FCRA”) prohibits discrimination in employment based on many protected categories but pregnancy is not expressly listed as one of them. There has been a split in the Florida District Courts of Appeal as to whether pregnancy is covered under the FCRA. To resolve the split, the Florida Supreme Court heard … Continue Reading
