As I sit here on vacation cleaning out some of the older cases from my Google Drive, I came across this Fifth Circuit decision about which I meant to blog a while ago. It’s about a baccarat dealer who had to deal with a customer making sexually charged gestures, remarks…
Articles Posted in Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment
Yes, a man can have an (un)equal pay claim too. So how can a company defend itself?
The Equal Pay Act (EPA) prohibits employers from discriminating against an employee based on sex by paying lower wages than are paid to employees of the opposite sex for performing equal work. We usually see women assert EPA claims. But men can have them too. For example, in this case,…
How can unionized companies accommodate employees with religious beliefs without violating a CBA?
Back in 1977, Star Wars premiered, Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown, and the Supreme Court established that employers need not reasonably accommodate religious beliefs under Title VII if inconsistent with a collective bargaining agreement. Plus, Title VII does not require an employer to discriminate against other union employees by…
While the EEOC facilitates bias claims for non-binary employees, here are seven ways to support them at work.
The nation’s anti-discrimination enforcer is promoting greater equity and inclusion for members of the LGBTQI+ community. Soon, non-binary individuals can select a nonbinary “X” gender marker during the voluntary self-identification questions that are part of the intake process for filing a charge of discrimination. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission…
Five reasons why EEOC mediation may be right for your business
Last night, in an American Bar Association study, I read that juries decide less than one percent of federal civil cases. Sometimes parties win on motion. But most of these cases settle somewhere along the way. Knowing this — and considering the cost of litigation — it shocks me that…
A worker who claims she was fired for COVID-19 weight gain while quarantining is suing for . . . sex discrimination?!?
And she may win. With a tip of my hat to Abby Wargo at Law360, who reported this lawsuit here, I read a bartender’s federal complaint against her former employer. The short of it is this. The plaintiff worked for an adult entertainment venue but was not an adult entertainer or…
A bill to end hair discrimination takes another step towards becoming federal law.
On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s texture or style of hair with a vote of 235-189. It’s called the “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2022” or the “CROWN Act of 2022,” and you…
The EEOC has new caregiver discrimination guidance. I’ll sum it up for you in two words.
Yesterday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shared new guidance for employers to avoid caregiver discrimination issues for employees with caregiver responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EEOC included a new section on caregivers/family responsibilities in its ongoing COVID-19 FAQ, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the…
Don’t ruin your arbitration agreements by doing this…
Some of you require your employees to sign agreements requiring them to arbitrate employment claims — other than claims of sexual harassment or abuse, of course. But what happens if your employees later sign another agreement — a severance agreement, for example — that doesn’t contain an arbitration provision? One…
Biden signs #MeToo arbitration bill, Philly drops masks, and EEOC updates its COVID-19 guidance
What a Friday trifecta! The only thing better that could come in threes would be a gallon of Neapolitan ice cream — with chocolate instead of strawberry and vanilla. Beards up! Masks down. Speaking of threes, the Philadelphia 76ers have been flashing championship form since the arrival of James Harden…