Over the weekend, I came across a court ruling highlighting a surprising legal reality: an employee who admits to breaking company rules can still have a valid discrimination case. Here’s what happened: A team leader at a supermarket chain was responsible for overseeing the food service and deli departments. One…
A recent federal appellate court decision highlights some of the complexities of employment discrimination claims. It is a stark reminder for companies that even well-intentioned reorganizations can lead to legal challenges if not handled transparently and consistently. The Backstory The plaintiff was terminated from her role as Associate Director during a…
In a recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit involving a claim of sex discrimination in hiring, the court offered some lessons for employers that may “use their gut” to decide between two qualified candidates. The plaintiff, a Black woman, had a long career…
U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Over the weekend, Lilly Ledbetter, a woman who unintentionally became a champion of equal pay for men and women, died at 86. Ms. Ledbetter worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (Goodyear) from 1979 until 1998. During much of this time,…
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees and applicants based on sex. In 2020, the Supreme Court interpreted Title VII’s ban on sex discrimination to include employer bias based on sexual orientation. But, did you know that in about half the country,…
If your business provides a self-funded health insurance plan to its employees, that health plan covers “medically necessary” services, and you’re not keen on defending sex discrimination claims, then keep reading. Yesterday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that an employer cannot exclude coverage for…
In 2013, a healthcare provider hired a white man—let’s call him plaintiff—as its Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications. And he crushed it, receiving strong performance reviews and gaining national recognition for himself and the marketing program he developed. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, he was fired. As…
The words “cisgender” or “non-transgender” employee appear nowhere in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal workplace law that outlaws gender discrimination. But, according to a Pennsylvania federal judge, “that does not preclude the possibility that discrimination against both a cisgender male and cisgender female may…
In 2022, Florida passed The Individual Freedom Act. But most people know this law as the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” which stands for “Stop the Wrongs to our Kids and Employees.” Whatever we call it, the Act says employers cannot subject “any individual, as a condition of employment,” to “training, instruction,…
Notice anything potentially unlawful here? Yesterday, several of us spoke with The Philadelphia Inquirer about the problem with a local restaurant’s job ad discouraging trans men (and any women) from applying.