Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment

Five great ideas on how your business can revamp workplace culture to prevent harassment

November 1, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/lightbulb-vector-light-icons-2824863/)

Yesterday, while you were sneaking Fun Size Peanut M&Ms out of the Halloween pumpkin before the trick-or-treaters showed up — maybe that was just me — the EEOC held a public meeting on Steps to Transform Workplace Culture to Prevent Harassment.

The consensus was that employers best accomplish this through a “holistic approach.”

Those are fancy words. But what precisely can you do to address harassment?

I’ve got five big takeaways from the meeting. Continue reading

If at first you don’t succeed, sue, sue, and sue again.

October 30, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Ralph Wilson Stadium (NFL Buffalo Bills) - Orchard Park, NY.jpg

Par Idibri — Flickr – https://www.flickr.com/photos/idibri/16217772928, CC BY 2.0, Lien

Today, I’m going to tell you the story of a man that has now sued the same employer four times.

It’s a bit like the Buffalo Bills of employment litigation, except the plaintiff here hasn’t suffered a fourth defeat…yet.

There’s a chatbot for HR to log discrimination complaints. But, would you use it?

October 26, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/chatbot-chat-application-artificial-3589528/)

If you’re scratching your heads on this one, Grasia Hald‘s post at Medium, “Chatbot 101: Everything you ever wanted to know about Chatbots” may help.

The DOJ says that Title VII does not protect transgender employees, and this should not surprise you.

October 25, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

By Matt Popovich uh (https://unsplash.com/photos/UVe-5ZyDdAE) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

Shout out to Chris Opfer at Bloomberg Law.

Chris reported yesterday that the U. S. Department of Justice filed this brief with the United States Supreme Court in this case, in which it argues that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal employment discrimination law, does not cover discrimination against an individual because of the individual’s gender identity.

Is this a big deal? Yes. Is it a surprise that the DOJ has taken this position? Heck no. Continue reading

Blackface is a bad idea for Halloween at work, and other ways that you can avoid calling me on November 1.

October 24, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Before I get to the Halloween, I’m assuming that if you won last night’s Mega Millions jackpot, you probably have better things to do than read this blog post. If however, you did win, congratulations! And, by reading this far into the blog post, you agree to split your winnings 50/50 with me.

Ok, 60/40.

It’s a contract. That’s how the law works. Checkmate!

Three wins for readers of The Employer Handbook

October 23, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Flickr.com (https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/27388069805) //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

And it’s only Tuesday! Continue reading

This company fired an employee on the same day that she returned from pregnancy leave … and won the lawsuit.

October 22, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com

Every so often — not, “if I had a nickel” often, but every once in a while — someone hits me up for my two cents on firing an employee who is on FMLA or some other form of protected leave for [fill in the reason]. Continue reading

This employee fired for a “caught on camera” racist tirade won’t be collecting $100,000. Probably.

October 18, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/KIPP-teacher-fired-arrested-racially-remarks-13300013.php?ipid=hpctp#photo-16316860

Remember yesterday’s post?

If not, then out of concern for you, I suggest that you see a doctor. Because after all, we’re talking about a post from just one day ago.

Either way, to get you back up to speed, yesterday I blogged about an employer that was required to pay $100K to a worker it fired for making racist Facebook posts. That was because an arbitrator concluded that the employer knew about the employee’s racist behavior online but did nothing about it for several months until the media reported it.

Today’s situation — a different situation — is different. Like totally different. Continue reading

Believe it or not, there’s a good reason why one employer must pay $100K to a worker it fired for racist Facebook posts

October 17, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

By Highway Patrol Images (Code 3 combination LED & rotating beacons) [CC BY 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons

Hold on, let me proofread that.

Employee makes racist Facebook posts, and company must pay him $100,000. Yep, that’s it. Continue reading

The results of SHRM’s study on workplace harassment confirm that I’ll be staying busy for the foreseeable future.

October 16, 2018 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/survey-poll-pencil-icon-checkbox-3286948/)

“Change is taking place, but organizational culture must continue to evolve. ”

That’s one takeaway from the study that SHRM released earlier this month as part of its “Harassment-Free Workplace Series.”

“We have a long way to go.”

That’s my takeaway from the study. Continue reading