COVID vaccination mandates may be behind us, but the lawsuits they generated are still shaping how courts analyze religious accommodation under Title VII. This Third Circuit decision is a reminder that an accommodation can still be challenged when it allegedly creates a new burden. TL;DR: The…
Employees do not need to use legal buzzwords to be protected from retaliation. But they do need to complain about the right thing. General workplace grievances are not the same as opposing unlawful discrimination, and courts continue to enforce that distinction. TL;DR: An employee’s internal grievance about unfair treatment…
Constructive discharge is a high bar. But an ultimatum, delivered the wrong way and on the wrong timeline, can be enough to clear it. That was the lesson from a recent federal court decision involving a pregnant employee who was told she could either keep working under at-will conditions or…
When employees say, “You helped him when he was injured but refused to help me,” it sounds like discrimination. It also sounds like a failure-to-accommodate dispute. A recent Ninth Circuit decision shows why that framing matters, and why getting it wrong can sink the case before it ever reaches a…
Me? I probably would not tell the EEOC that I removed a Black employee from work because of her “introduction of race” into the workplace. Especially after she complained about race discrimination triggered by a question about attending a Black Lives Matter protest. But that is exactly what happened…
Performance improvement plans are often treated as neutral management tools. This case shows how quickly a PIP can become the centerpiece of a retaliation claim once an employee raises equity concerns. TL;DR: After an employee raised “boys’ club” concerns, her employer placed her on a performance improvement plan about…
Not every denied accommodation becomes a viable lawsuit. Courts are still asking a simple threshold question before a discrimination case goes anywhere. TL;DR: In a recent Eleventh Circuit decision, the court affirmed summary judgment for the employer, holding that a denied religious accommodation does not violate Title VII unless it…
Pay equity disputes are rarely about a single salary decision. They turn on whether an employer’s explanation for a pay gap holds together once the facts are examined. A recent Seventh Circuit decision shows how reorganizations that blend promotions and transfers into the same role can expose cracks in that…
In Groundhog Day, the problem isn’t that the day repeats. It’s that nothing changes. At one point, Phil Connors captures the frustration perfectly: “What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today.” That same problem shows up when employers investigate complaints about a supervisor, conclude the conduct is not…
Hiring can feel like a checklist: background check, drug test, start date. But when an applicant raises a disability-related issue, those boxes stop being routine, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) starts asking questions. TL;DR: An applicant disclosed prescription medications that could affect a required drug test and…