On Tuesday, voters in Houston, TX took to the polls and said no to Prop 1. That’s a ballot measure that would have outlawed discrimination at work against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees and job applicants. Amanda Terkel at The Huffington Post reports here that, despite having widespread support from local…
Articles Posted in Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment
Court upholds employee firing after complaining about gay slurs. Was that a mistake?
Mr. Gaff worked as a custodian at a University. He claimed that, on several occasions, his subordinate called him a “fa***t.” So, Mr. Gaff complained to his supervisor. Then, Mr. Gaff was later fired. Retaliation? Are you going to be at the ABA Annual Labor & Employment Law Conference in Philly…
More EEOC rules on employer wellness programs are coming. Will yours make the cut?
Do you follow me on Twitter? If you do, you may have watched me live-streaming some of my one-year-old, who won Halloween hands-down. Well, that and you would have gotten the early heads up that the EEOC was issuing its proposed rules on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), and its…
YouTube clips of “Live with Kelly and Michael” doom a manager’s discrimination claims
Personally, I’m more into The View. (And by The View, I mean The Walking Dead). [Disclaimer: This post involves an employer client of mine. However, I was not involved in this particular action]. If you’re going to play hooky, try not to have clips of it on YouTube. The case…
Did you hear the one about the HR Manager who’d never heard of Title VII?
The bottom of the first page of this recent federal court opinion in EEOC v. Star Transport, Inc. really grabbed my attention: In December 2008 or January 2009, Edward Briggs became Star Transport’s Human Resources Manager. He received no training on anti-discrimination laws, was not aware of any exceptions to…
Fact or Fiction: Denying a discretionary bonus may be discrimination?
That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post.” Many claims of discrimination require proof of what’s called an “adverse employment action.” A firing would qualify; so would an…
Attendance may be an essential job function under the ADA. But, how do you know?
The regulations to the Americans with Disabilities Act include a non-exhaustive list of reasonable accommodations that may apply to allow an employee with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job. They include job restructuring; part-time or modified work schedules; reassignment to a vacant position; acquisition or modifications…
Fired for a mouth full of coffee? That’s a new one. Or, maybe, age discrimination.
WWE great The Undertaker is 50 years old. He’s an eight-time Heavyweight Champion. But, his greatest feat is never missing one of my posts his streak of 21 consecutive wins at Wrestlemania. But then, at Wrestlemania XXX, the streak ended. Do you think that The Undertaker’s age motivated the WWE’s decision…
Something wrong with a little bump n’ grind. Sexual harassment, perhaps.
Something else you may not know about me. On Saturday evenings, I crash Bar Mitzvahs and hustle blackjack. And then I’m like… But then, on Sunday, it’s back the Bloggerdome for a new post. For this one, let’s talk about R. Kelly a recent Fourth Circuit decision in which the…
ADA and accommodating peanut allergies at work
Well, damn. To those who you who receive my blog posts via email, I’m sorry. Yesterday, we had some technical difficulties and my card check post didn’t make it into your inbox. I realize that for some of you — ok, all of you — my blog posts are an icy-cold bottle…