A federal law called the Equal Pay Act requires that men and women in the same workplace receive equal pay for equal work. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. While women often seek relief under this statute, a state government agency learned the hard…
Remember that AT&T ad campaign a few years ago where the mobile network provider touted how cell phone users should not have to settle for mediocre phone service? “Just ok is not ok.” In the workplace, however, “just ok” may be good enough when responding to employee complaints of harassment.…
“Uh, Eric, don’t you mean the superior candidate?” You’d think I would, but I’m reading what the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in this recent opinion. The plaintiff, a black woman, applied for a job. The company conducted two rounds of interviews, with separate panels in each round, to…
Among the top employment issues that companies will need to navigate in 2024 is enforcing laws that have more recently taken effect. Take the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, for example. The PUMP Act, which amended the Fair Labor Standards Act, took effect in December 2022. It provides additional workplace…
I’m going to tell you about what may be the least self-aware employee. At least in recent memory. But first, we need to talk about sex stereotyping. Sex stereotyping is a form of discrimination. Indeed, the Supreme Court has acknowledged that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964…
One of the largest jury verdicts in recent memory for a claim of employment discrimination was a $25.6 million award to a white manager who alleged that her former employer fired her because of her race. But these wins involving discrimination against the so-called “majority” are few and far between.…
I’m generally skeptical when I read about lawsuits that individuals accused of discrimination bring against their former employers. Last night, I read about a doctor who was terminated from his position after his former employer received an anonymous complaint allegedly accusing him of sex discrimination. The doctor (plaintiff) claimed that…
I want to thank my co-presenters, Amy Epstein Gluck, Jonathan Segal, Gregory Slotnick, and everyone who attended the Zoom on Friday, November 10, 2023, when we discussed antisemitism and the workplace. We recorded it, and you can view it here on YouTube. One of the topics we covered was employees getting…
If only a federal appellate court had reacted that way when a female plaintiff claimed an equal pay violation because she and other females were paid less than the “local industry standard.” But, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals wasn’t buying the ‘back-of-the-envelope math’ the plaintiff was selling. Allow me to…
Last night, I read about a black female educator and school administrator who claimed that her employer agreed to pay for her to attend a training session but later reneged, instead offering to pay for her to attend in two years. So, she paid for it herself. And then she…