As the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s fiscal year comes to a close, the agency has filed a slew of discrimination lawsuits. One that caught my eye involves an employer that allegedly rescinded an offer of employment once it found out that the individual was using prescription drugs to treat…
Oh, do I have some Monday Motivation for you! Last Friday, I spoke at an HR conference about the EEOC’s latest enforcement trends. Part of the discussion addressed stereotyping. That’s because the 2017-2021 Strategic Enforcement Plan for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission focused on addressing discrimination based on employees’ perceptions of others.…
If what the EEOC alleges in this lawsuit is true, then this employer is stupider than stupid-stupid. From the EEOC’s press release: Really?!! An actual policy which requires an employee to voluntarily resign or be discharged once she is six months pregnant. More from the EEOC press release: “Federal law…
That’s because, last week, a federal appellate court held that long-term medical leave is not a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. 12 weeks of FMLA plus 2-3 more months of leave. The case is Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc., and you can read the Seventh Circuit’s opinion here.…
And it has nothing to do with the First Amendment and freedom of speech. ICYMI, some NFL players decided to protest during this week’s games. On September 23, at a rally for Alabama Republican Senate candidate Luther Strange, President Donald Trump called upon National Football League owners to fire NFL players…
It depends. (Of course, it does). Suppose that you employ someone who, during the course of his employment, becomes disabled. This disability makes it impossible for the employee to perform his current job. Enter the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA requires an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation to a qualified…
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission believes that discrimination based on LGBT status amounts to sex discrimination. Sex discrimination is unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, some recent comments imply that the EEOC’s position on LGBT rights at work may change. Like, how about…
I’m not sure what kind of evidence a federal jury was expecting when it concluded that two plaintiff-intervenors (i.e., the alleged victims of sexual harassment on whose behalf the EEOC pursued claims) did not do enough to notify the employer-defendant about possible harassment in the workplace. And neither did a federal judge…
Not even close to that fun. No, it’s about a guy who got fired after his employer concluded that he had gained unauthorized access to its electronic files. It just so happens that the plaintiff accessed those files to assist his employer in defending two discrimination actions that other employees…
Austin Powers, Eric? Yeah, sorry. I’m all tapped out after yesterday’s fantasy football spectacular. So, pregnancy-discrimination, eh? The facts in Estate of Andrew Tyler Pennington v. Southern Motion, Inc. (opinion here) are rather straightforward. Mr. Pennington worked for Southern Motion, Inc. According to the plaintiff, shortly before Mr. Pennington’s employment with Southern Motion…