Have you ever heard of quid pro quo sexual harassment? The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says it occurs where employment opportunities or benefits are granted because of an individual’s submission to the employer’s sexual advances or requests for sexual favors. In those situations, the employer may be liable for unlawful…
MicroZesTo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons If you’re asking that question to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the answer is no. At the end of last week, the EEOC announced that it had sued two companies allegedly violating federal law when they failed to prevent and correct ongoing…
I’ve seen weaker lawsuits. But let me explain why the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed that asking a female colleague to babysit, once hitting her posterior with a rubber band, and even failing to use her proper title is not enough to create a hostile work environment based…
Your tax dollars at work, folks. Well, technically, just those of us in New Jersey. Before I tell you about this recent decision, I’ll offer a brief history lesson. In July 2021, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 was introduced in the U.S.…
Democrats and Republicans don’t often see eye to eye on new employment legislation. Except, it seems, when Gretchen Carlson spearheads the effort to get these new bills passed. In March, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 into law. That law…
In today’s post, I had planned to dispense some wage-and-hour tips for employers seeking to adjust hourly pay rates. And then the employment law gods spoke to me and said, “Eric, this blog is about the clicks, not curing insomnia.” Ok, then. Let’s go with this recent federal court decision…
GFDL, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Yesterday, we discussed why employers must adopt comprehensive, well-known anti-discrimination policies. That way, victims know what to do to get their complaints of harassment addressed. Today, we’re going to focus on the importance of a prompt employer response that is reasonably designed to…
It takes a lot to establish what the law considers a hostile work environment. A former warehouse manager learned this lesson the hard way when a federal judge dismissed her complaint with prejudice before she even got the chance to take any discovery. Here are the facts of the case…
Earlier this year, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. The law allows victims of sexual assault or sexual harassment to litigate their claims in court even if they signed an arbitration agreement. At the end of last month, a bipartisan…
Does the spike in remote work arrangements over the past few years mean the end of wacky sexual harassment cases? Yeah, right! Although, in fairness, the unique facts of this case long pre-date the pandemic. This one involves a female plaintiff, a professor at a university, who claimed that the…