Labor and Employment Law (original) (raw)

The past year did not bring many major developments in the labor and employment law field; it was mainly a year of refinements and fine-tuning. The biggest news on the legislative front is the passage of a statute prohibiting employment discrimination based on an employee's off-duty use of tobacco. 1 In the judicial arena, the Indiana Supreme Court, in Bochnowski v. Peoples Federal Savings & Loan Association, 2 joined the majority trend in recognizing a cause of action for third party intentional interference with at-will employment relationships. These were the highlights of a relatively quiet year. Other legislative developments discussed below include amendments to education statutes regarding suspensions of teachers with and without pay, changes in payment provisions under the unemployment and workers' compensation laws, and amendments to the penalty provisions of the occupational health and safety law. Among the judicial decisions reviewed in this Article are cases revisiting the Frampton rule, addressing employee defamation suits against employers, employment discrimination, issues arising in public sector employment, wage statutes, unemployment compensation, and workers' compensation. I. Legislative Developments A. Off-Duty Use of Tobacco A new chapter was added to Title 22 of the Indiana Code dealing with the off-duty use of tobacco by employees. Chapter 22-5-4 prohibits an employer from requiring, as a condition of employment, that an employee refrain from using tobacco products when not at work. 3 This chapter also prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee with respect to compensation, benefits, and terms and conditions