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The Employer Handbook BlogHey, there’s new pregnancy discrimination guidance from the EEOC
You can find it here.
I’d love to hang around and offer my commentary, but I’ve got a thing.
Articles Posted in Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment
What the Supreme Court’s marriage-equality decision means for your workplace.
Ok, presumably, I’m not the only employment lawyer trying to apply the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges to the employer-employee relationship. But, I can guarantee that this will be the best post you read about it today.
#noguarantees Continue reading
Update your job descriptions. Because, Americans with Disabilities Act.
A friendly reminder that, just because your job description might say what an employee is supposed to do, doesn’t mean that’s what your employee actually does. And, in an Americans with Disabilities Act case, here’s why that matters…
How to avoid a colonoscopy gone bad in your workplace
One of my very best readers, a true HR all-star, forwarded to me this article from Tom Jackson at the Washington Post, about a colonoscopy gone wrong. Actually, the procedure was a success. However, the patient hit record on his smartphone before the anesthesia kicked in. Continue reading
GOP proposes pregnancy discrimination bill. In other news, pigs fly.
Ok, to be fair, the Pregnancy Discrimination Amendment Act (here), isn’t exactly the most progressive piece of legislation. Kinda like putting provolone on a cheesesteak; no Cheez Whiz here. Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the PDAA yesterday to clear up the confusion arising from the Supreme Court’s opinion in Young v. UPS. Continue reading
“Patience” is a great G N’ R song; not a reasonable accommodation under the ADA
Wow! I thought I’d seen it all in the employment space in the past 72 hours with this Rachel Dolezal downward spiral (bing, bang, boom).
But, this recent federal-court opinion I read last night. The one about an employee with Attention Deficit Disorder who was fired after discussing vaginal massages with a co-worker (even Tyrion Lannister would blush) restores my confidence in my chosen profession.
Rather than just walk away, why did this employee claim violations of various federal employment laws? Because the blog gods are good, my friends.
More questions than answers come out of EEOC public meeting on workplace harassment
Yesterday, the EEOC’s Select Task Force on Workplace Harassment (STF) — as opposed to this STF (sorry, I’m basically a 12-year-old trapped in a quasi-successful lawyer’s body) — held its first public meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to explore the scope of workplace harassment and the types of research already existing on the issue. Continue reading
Can the NAACP legally fire Rachel Dolezal? Here’s an employment lawyer’s take.
Late last week, Rachel Dolezal, the President of the Spokane Chapter of the NAACP and a leader in the black community, was outed by her parents as being white.
The controversy caught a lot of people by surprise, most notably, the Spokane Chapter. Amidst a flurry of activity over the weekend — just check your Facebook and Twitter feeds — Ms. Dolezal planned to address the issue at a monthly meeting tonight. However, the Spokane Chapter announced on its Facebook page that the meeting would be postponed “to continue discussion with regional and national NAACP leaders.”
Now, what if this discussion consummated in firing Ms. Dolezal? Would that be legal? Continue reading
Take me to church — to reasonably accommodate my disability
[cue music]
Let’s say that you have an employee who suffers from anxiety and stress. The employee is very religious and her doctor encourages her to attend church on Sundays. Not only does church provide fulfill her spiritually, but it helps to lower both the stress and anxiety and significantly reduce her reliance upon prescription medication.
But, you’ve scheduled this employee to work a Sunday through Thursday schedule. Still, she comes to you and asks for all Sundays off to attend church as an accommodation for her anxiety and stress, which are probably disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Question: Do you have to allow her to go to church? Continue reading