The Employer Handbook Blog

Yesterday, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updated Enforcement Guidance on employer use of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Title VII is the federal statute that prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin). You can read a full press release on the updated Enforcement Guidance here.

The press release includes a link to questions and answers about the EEOC's Enforcement Guidance. However, I will summarize the most important points for employers after the jump...

Continue reading "5 takeaways from the EEOC's new guidance on use of criminal records" »

I can pinpoint the exact moment that this blog transcended to the next level of internet excellence.

It was back in late March, when I blogged here about a female bartender/server who had sued her employer, the Wild Beaver Saloon, for pregnancy discrimination. The retweets that day were off the heezy fo sheezy, yo. (The hyperlink is a courtesy to my NPR listeners).

***Wait. Hold on one sec. I have to take this call from "1993". They say they want their dated hip-hop lingo back. OK, I'm back.***

When I first wrote about the Wild Beaver Saloon, the question was whether a business could make an employment decision based on the preferences of co-workers, the employer, clients or customers. I concluded, in this instance, that the Beave could not get away with it.

Well, the case ended last week. So was I right? Click past the jump to find out if I know my stuff...

Continue reading "Final score: Pregnant bartender 45,000 - Wild Beaver Saloon 0" »

I can't make this stuff up if I tried.

The Associated Press reports that the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commissions has ordered a local employer to pay $38,700 in back pay and interest to a female employee it fired for fighting at a cheese-making plant. According to the report, Rosalind Brown prevailed on her gender discrimination claim because she apparently received harsher discipline than male employees who had engaged in more egregious behavior:

The commission agreed with Rosalind Brown who claims it was unfair for her to be fired when two men who fought at the Dairy Farmers of America Inc. plant in West Middlesex received only 3-day suspensions. 1 of the men was injured when the other threw a 20-pound block of cheese.

Commission chairman Stephen Glassman commented, "Employers cannot discipline male and female workers differently based on stereotypical expectations of how men and women should behave."

Congratulations!

Because you are reading this post, you somehow made it past your company's internet firewall. That, or you're a horny perv, Googling some effed-up search terms. But I'm a lawyer; I don't judge.

Either way, continue reading. 

After the jump, it's the female bartender/server who is now suing her employer, the Wild Beaver Saloon, *** borderline-NSFW link *** because she claims they fired her for getting pregnant!

Continue reading "Booze, wild beaver, and a pregnant bartender. What!" »

The New Jersey Supreme Court in Alexander v. Seton Hall University has ruled that three women who sued their employer for pay discrimination may pursue their claims, even though their claims were time-barred under then New Jersey law.

More on this case, after the jump...

Continue reading "New Jersey applies Lilly Ledbetter Act to LAD case" »

Recently, I read an article by Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle about a speech from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in which he told law students from U.C. Hastings that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees equal protection to all U.S. citizens, do not preclude discrimination based on sex. Justice Scalia believes that the drafters of the Constitution did not have sex discrimination on the brain when they passed the 14th Amendment.

Continue reading "How do PA, NJ, and DE address discrimination based on sexual orientation?" »