SimplyHR | Employment & Labor Blog 

On  April 27, 2016, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow companies to go straight to federal court to fight trade-secret theft by their employees. Currently, when a company’s trade secrets are stolen, the only available remedies are to file a private civil action in state court or to convince the Justice Department to bring a criminal case.

A railway company and the business groups that supported its position scored a victory April 5 with the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision that obesity is not a covered condition under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ruling is the latest to support the position that general obesity, without an underlying medical cause, does not warrant protection under the ADA.