I train a heckuva lot of managers and HR professionals on leave issues relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act and Family and Medical Leave Act. (Yes, you can have a copy of my presentation, just email me). One issue that often crops up in discussing the intersection of the two…
Articles Posted in Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment
Huge $5M EEOC settlement spotlights an enforcement priority that you may be overlooking
In late December of 2012, the EEOC approved its Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2013-2016. Sadly, one of the agency’s enforcement priorities has been ignored on this blog. Until now. Protecting Immigrant, Migrant and Other Vulnerable Workers. There are six EEOC enforcement priorities. While there is no hierarchy among the six,…
A jury will decide whether a quadriplegic welder will win his disability discrimination claim
Yeah, I thought you’d click on this one. From the blog that brought you the Americans with Disabilities Act claims of the bridge worker with a fear of heights, the firefighter afraid of fighting fires, and the utility person who could climb utility poles, comes the quadriplegic welder and his claims of disability…
Another court holds that LGB discrimination is sex discrimination under federal law
On Tuesday, I had a great sandwich. You see, I made a turkey and swiss sandwich at home and, in a moment of brilliance, I added some of the leftover guacamole from Taqueria La Veracruzana. Oh, right, you’re here to learn about sexual-orientation discrimination. Ok, forget the sandwich, let’s talk LGBT…
Preferring to hire women instead of men, yeah, that’s called discrimination
Unless, of course, you’re filling server positions at Hooters. But, I’m not going there today. Besides, I went there yesterday. With my kids. Good wings. Good times. Instead, the genesis of today’s post is an article I read last by Stan Parker in Law360. Mr. Parker reports that the U.S.…
Yes, employees can fight workplace harassment with social media
https://flic.kr/p/rKbVS5 It’s almost 2016. By now, who among us: the lawyers, the HR professionals, the owners (Hi there, Mark Cuban, thanks for reading again today), has yet to deal with an allegation of workplace harassment involving social media. Why, just yesterday, I read about an employee who lost his job for…
Don’t let ADA stereotypes do to you what they did to this company
There are certain stereotypes that accurately reflect an image held in common for members of a group. For example, employment-law bloggers who practice law in Philadelphia and blog from their bloggerdomes in Southern New Jersey are generally handsome, erudite, and more appealing than a hipster drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon at a beard…
Did USC’s alcohol-related firing of its former head football coach violate the law?
Back in October, the University of Southern California fired Steve Sarkisian, its head football coach. The Daily Beast, among others, reported that USC fired Mr. Sarkisian after an incident where he appeared drunk during a speech at a USC event. Yesterday, Mr. Sarkisian fired back with a 14-count lawsuit in California Superior…
Can you eliminate discrimination claims by hiring minority replacements?
Yeah, no. When a person claims that he wasn’t promoted because of his race, or terminated because of her gender, or brings some other claim of disparate treatment, that person must demonstrate several elements: For example, in a failure-to-promote case, at a minimum, the plaintiff must establish four things: (s)he belongs to…
Did one court really just conclude that HIV is not an ADA disability?
Yesterday, the EEOC issued two new publications on the rights of HIV-positive individuals in the workplace. As EEOC Chair Jenny Yang underscored, “Individuals with HIV infection should know that the ADA protects their rights in the workplace, including the right to reasonable accommodations.” The implication here is that HIV is…