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The Employer Handbook BlogAsk a Manager’s Alison Green is hella-brave!!!
Whatever I was originally going to post about today can wait for a day. Continue reading
Articles Posted in Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment
PODCAST: “Losing My Religion: Title VII and flu shot accommodations” (ft. Brooks and Ivy Meyer)
Last Thursday, the Third Circuit of Appeals issued this opinion in Fallon v. Mercy Catholic Medical Center of Southeastern Pennsylvania, in which the court addressed religious accommodation and flu shots. Specifically, the court focused on what constitutes “religion” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
So, rather than write this up as a blog post, I thought I’d enlist the help of two family members who apparently enjoy flu shots; namely, my older son Brooks (8) and my older daughter Ivy (6). Continue reading
Looking to update your policy on sexual harassment? Maybe you’d like to see Facebook’s…
I’m used to it by now.
Maybe it’s a conversation at a networking event or a question from the audience at an HR session. You know what I’m talking about. That hypothetical legal question (with three follows ups) that someone asks for a friend (while everyone else rolls their eyes).
Look. It’s cool. I get it. No hard feelings.
And to prove it, I’ve got a bunch of freebies to maybe save you another call to your lawyer. Continue reading
The Supreme Court passes on ruling on LGBT workplace rights … for now
Ironically, it happened on the same day that President Trump nominated U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Commissioner Chai Feldblum, a true champion of LGBT workplace rights, to serve a third term at the EEOC. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant certiorari in Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital.
In plain English, the Supreme Court passed.
Continue reading
Surprise! Your company could be liable under Title VII as a joint employer.
It’s late Sunday night. I just finished the Walking Dead mid-season finale (no spoilers) and I’m catching up on the latest news about Carson Wentz’s knee.
And somehow I managed to pull myself out of the fetal position to type this post. Continue reading
“The Employment Law Year in Review” webinar recap
Thank you to everyone who tuned in to “The Employment Law Year in Review” webinar we hosted yesterday. A couple of housekeeping items:
- If you signed up, Jon Hyman will be emailing you a link to both the slide deck and a recording of the presentation. And here are the cheat codes for people who didn’t sign up [video // slide deck]
- Because lawyers love to talk, we ran out of time to address audience questions yesterday. Sorry about that. However, if you attended and still have unanswered hypothetical questions .. the ones that you’re asking about for a friend, please email me. As one attendee found out yesterday, include your phone number in that email and I may just give you a call. I can’t dispense free legal advice on specific issues, but we can fix that. Otherwise, we can talk about those hypothetical questions of yours.
Hear ye! Hear ye! 45,000 reasons not to publicize details of an employee’s EEOC charge of discrimination
For those of you who work in HR, what do you do when you learn that an employee has filed a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act?
Raise your hand if the answer is not publicizing details of the charge, including the employee’s name, union affiliation, and information about the medical restrictions on his ability to work, in a letter to 146 members of his union local. Continue reading
But, Eric, shouldn’t we update our anti-harassment policies in 2018 also?
Yes and, after yesterday, this deserves its own post. Continue reading
Grab your company’s job applications and ADA pearls. Now, click this post and clutch tightly.
A few years ago, one of my colleagues emailed me and asked if I would review a particular question on a client’s job application. Specifically, the client wanted to know whether a certain health-related inquiry was something the client could do before extending a conditional offer of employment.
Well, not only was this particular question unlawful, so were the other four I found on the job application. They all violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Every. Damn. One.
But, was this an anomaly? If we drained the ADA-noncompliance swamp, would we only find this employer?
My bottles of Drakkar Noir and left arm adorned in shiny Rowleckses says, “No.” Continue reading
Court stymies employer’s try for plaintiff’s social media passwords in sexual harassment case. But, it did get…
I imagine that, among the reasons that victims fear complaining about sexual harassment, is that spotlight may shine a little too brightly on them.
For example, when a plaintiff in a Title VII case claims emotional distress from sexual harassment, the source(s) of that pain will be under the microscope. Questioning on this issue could spill into the plaintiff’s social media activities.
But how far will a court allow this to go? Continue reading