Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment

Is it discrimination to favor a workplace shortie (shawtie?) over her male subordinates?

July 28, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Because all the other blogs will say “paramour” or “lover” in the lede, and I need to remain relevant (or “down,” if you will) with my more trendy readers.

Over the weekend, I read this case in which a male plaintiff alleged discrimination because his supervisor was allegedly schtupping a female subordinate and treating her better.

(The court said “voluntary romantic affiliation,” but why say in three words, what you can say in one).

EEOC shows no goodwill to Goodwill Industries: $100K for retaliation

July 25, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Thumbnail image for eeoclogo.png Just in case you thought that the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission uses a soft touch towards any business that may discriminate — let alone a charity.

Earlier this week, the EEOC announced here that Goodwill Industries will pay $100,000 to settle a long-standing retaliation lawsuit.

In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Goodwill retaliated against a worker by firing her after she testified on behalf of another Goodwill employee in a previous federal sex and age discrimination lawsuit.

Real and Spectacular! A true Seinfeld-ian claim of sexual harassment

July 23, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RvNS7JfcMM

Before law school was even on the radar for me, I knew that coitus on office furniture was a workplace no-no. And ignorance is not a defense.

But, maybe Seinfeld isn’t a thing in Indiana.

Requesting an accommodation means more than saying, “I’m disabled.”

July 22, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

My cold, black employment-law heart is numb to just about anything.

I remember this one time, early in my career, when I had to depose a teenage female plaintiff and ask her, with her mother present in the room, whether it offended her that her alleged male sexual harasser wanted to have a threesome with her and her mother.

Back then, it seemed salacious. Now, it’s like, whatever. Most of this stuff just rolls off of my shoulders.

Today, President Obama will sign an Executive Order banning LGBT discrimination

July 21, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Thumbnail image for rainbowflag.jpg According to a Friday report from Cynthia L. Hackerott at Wolters Kluwer, President Obama will sign an Executive Order today banning discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors.

Last month, I blogged here that the White House had announced that it intended to eventually ban LGBT discrimination by federal contractors through Executive Order because the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), did not make it through Congress.

Since that time, several gay-rights groups withdrew their support for ENDA, fearing that it afforded “religiously affiliated organizations … a blank check to engage in workplace discrimination against LGBT people.”

Court: No need to accommodate employee who shows up drunk on Mike’s Hard Lemonade

July 17, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Hey there, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

This Americans with Disabilities Act failure-to-accomodate opinion right here. You had me at “Ortiz reported to work on April 5, 2010, carrying one empty and three full cans of ‘Mike’s Hard Lemonade’ (an alcoholic beverage), along with raw meat.”

I may borrow that line for my Hangover Part IV treatment. It stars Zach Galifianakis and the rest of the crew — cameos by Pee Wee Herman, Octomom, and Peter Dinklage (as Tyrion Lannister) — and centers around the hi-jinx that ensue after the boys get blackout drunk following Alan’s nephew’s bris.

5 HR Essentials from the #EEOC’s New Pregnancy Discrimination Guidance

July 15, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

On the heels of yesterday’s astounding blogging success, “What LeBron’s return teaches employers about accommodating the Mark of the Beast” — Pulitzer, please — I was planning on coming at you today with “Five Workplace Lessons from Dutch Soccer’s Third Place in the World Cup.” It was going to have this cute Orange is the New Black theme, but then, the Twitterz spoke.

@EEOCNews just issued updated #Pregnancy Guidance. Check it out now: http://t.co/4L7HB9TV7a #EEOC

— EEOC.gov (@EEOCNews) July 14, 2014

What LeBron’s return teaches employers about accommodating the Mark of the Beast

July 14, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

I’ll save the “Five Workplace Lessons From LeBron James’s Return to Cleveland” post for the other bloggers.

Here’s one — one which I guarantee you don’t find anywhere else:

If during his time in Miami, LeBron James became a Fundamentalist Christian, and, upon filling out his new-employee paperwork with the Cleveland Cavaliers, refused to provide a social security number because it would cause him to have the “Mark of the Beast,” the Cavaliers would not have to provide him with a religious accommodation.

Court: Pregnancy discrimination can still occur four months after childbirth

July 10, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Last night, having come across this wacky Family Show gif, I couldn’t decide whether to binge watch the first season of Amish Mafia. Again. For the third time.

(And, by third, I mean eighth).

Or dip my English toe into the Breaking Amish pool.

All that for a bag of chips: Walgreens pays $180K to settle ADA claim

July 8, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

A few months ago, I blogged about a California federal court decision, which recognized that Walgreens may have an obligation under the Americans with Disabilities Act to accommodate one of its cashiers who opened a $1.39 bag of chips (without having paid for it first) because she was suffering from an attack of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

That post was entitled “The ADA may require companies to accommodate employee theft. Yep, stealing.“

Unfortunately, definitive guidance on that will have to spring from another lawsuit. That is, Walgreens settled for $180,000 last week. A copy of the consent decree is embedded below (and can also be found here).