Fortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is waning. Yet, past workplace incidents are now surfacing in court as COVID-19 discrimination lawsuits. A common thread with many of these lawsuits is an employee with COVID-19 who gets fired and claims disability discrimination. That begs the question: when is COVID-19 a disability under the…
In case you missed President Biden’s State of the Union Address last night, I’ve got you covered with everything HR compliance that came up. Pay equity and higher minimum wage. When President Biden took office in January 2021, part of his initial plan was to raise the federal minimum wage…
It wasn’t long ago that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission noticed a spike in reports of mistreatment and harassment of Asian Americans and other people of Asian descent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, when many Americans clamored for a wall on the southern border, Hispanic workers in the…
The Americans with Disabilities Act has strict rules about the scope and manner of disability-related inquiries and medical examinations of workers. For example, do you remember that post last week about the forklift operator on opioids? He presented doctor’s notes to his employer to confirm that he would not present…
About six years ago, five players on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) filed a Charge of Discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). The women claimed that they were paid up to four times less than their male counterparts for doing basically the same job.…
A plaintiff asserting a retaliation claim against his employer must establish three elements: A protected activity (such as complaining about discrimination), A materially adverse employment action (such as a termination of employment), and A connection between the first and second element (i.e., an employer fired him for complaining about discrimination)…
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg in this blistering (albeit, PG-rated) 58-page dissent to yesterday’s non-precedential Fifth Circuit decision, in which the majority concluded that a private company’s workplace vaccine mandate could irreparably harm individuals with disabilities and strong religious beliefs. So, orgies, eh? That’s nothing. Check out…
Proving that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission doesn’t just enforce anti-discrimination laws on behalf of the “little guy,” the EEOC announced on Monday that it had recovered $250,000 from a company that allegedly terminated its former CFO because of his disability. Yes, that’s when it happened. Or, at least…
You get a jury trial on an Americans with Disabilities Act claim. Paging Doctor HR! Last night, I read a 38-page federal court decision with a fact pattern that, unfortunately, sounds all-too-familiar. The plaintiff applies for a position as a forklift operator — a position he has held…
On Tuesday, I warned you that your company’s arbitration agreements for sexual harassment claims might not survive February intact. Folks, they may not make it to the Super Bowl. On Monday night, the House voted 335-97 to pass the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of…