Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment

When the supervisor offers an employee $$$ to have sex with his wife, that’s not gender bias, you guys

April 1, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Terribly sorry about the confusion created by my sloppy use of possessive pronouns in today’s lede. The “his” wife refers to the employee’s wife. Otherwise, this post doesn’t make any sense, does it? (Don’t spend too much time contemplating the question, ok).

Yep, just another Tuesday at The Employer Handbook.

Click through for what should prove to be a cluster of a gender discrimination claim contain many valuable takeaways for proactive employers.

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The guy who was fired for peeing in a cup in front of his co-worker claims disability discrimination

March 31, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

I’m pretty sure Larry David had this written into the Seinfeld Parking Garage episode before making a last-minute script change to uromysitis.

I would have stuck with the former. But, Mr. David is a comedic genius and I just write this crappy blog.

How bad is this blog, you ask? I was contemplating using the words “wicked pissah” in the lede, only to realize that I’d already used them.

Then again, you’re the ones reading this. Go ahead. Click through to read more after the jump…

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Court reasons that unreasonably withdrawing a reasonable accommodation is reason for employee to win ADA suit

March 25, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Let’s say that you have an employee whom the Americans with Disabilities Act would consider disabled and to whom you have afforded a reasonable accommodation for a long time.

Maybe it’s a few years of light duty to accommodate your employee’s bad back. Maybe it’s keeping your employee with medically-documented sleeping issues off of the graveyard shift.

Or maybe, like in this case, it’s allowing an employee who takes morning meds for ADD and bipolar disorder to arrive to work a late, so the meds can kick in. Indeed, for 2 1/2 years, the employee in this particular situation was accommodated with modified start time.

This may just be the greatest union-avoidance banner evah!

March 21, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Yesterday, I read with interest Jon Hyman’s post at the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog about how Target has employed a 14-minute training video to help keep its workplace union free. Gawker has posted a copy of the video here. Like a bear crapping in the woods, Gawker pokes fun of the Target video. Cheesiness aside, I find it to be pretty effective.

But Target ain’t got nothing on Subaru of Wichita. (h/t Jeff Nowak)

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Democrats seek to undo 2013 Supreme Court ruling defining workplace “supervisor”

March 18, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Thumbnail image for CapitolHill.jpg Has the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Vance v. Ball State been keeping you up at night?

*** logs IP numbers; obtains restraining orders ***

Well, ok. I can see why some of you are sour on the 2013 Supreme Court decision holding that an employee is a “supervisor” for purposes of vicarious liability under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 only if he or she is empowered by the employer to take tangible employment actions against the victim.

Is it unreasonable to tell your boss to stop sexually harassing you?

March 17, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

I can actually feel the daggers that some of you are staring into me.

So, please allow me to ~~reintroduce myself. My name is H-O~~ explain.

How to demonstrate sexual harassment

Check out the new EEOC guidance on workplace religious accommodations

March 10, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Thumbnail image for EEOC.jpg Late last year, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission scored a big victory when a federal judge found apparel company Abercrombie & Fitch liable for religious discrimination when it fired a Muslim employee for wearing her hijab (a religious headscarf) in the workplace, rather than accommodating her religious beliefs.

On the heels of this win, the EEOC has just issued new guidance about how federal employment discrimination law applies to religious dress and grooming practices, and what steps employers can take to meet their legal responsibilities in this area.

You can view the press release here, a fact sheet here, and a FAQ here.

Employee wins sexual harassment case. (Employee is a prostitute)

March 6, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

[Cue music]

“Yes! Meyer is finally playing Five Finger Death Punch!”

— Not a single one of you

The National Football League’s proposed “N”-word penalty: too far, or not far enough?

March 4, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

In a few weeks, the National Football League owners are going to consider a proposed rule governing the use of the “N”-word during a football game. If the rule goes into effect, any team with a player who uses the “N”-word during a game, will be assessed a 15-yard penalty.

Players, young and old, disagree on the rule.

Here are Michael Wilbon and Jason Whitlock from ESPN’s Outside the Lines debating the merits of the proposed new rule.

Choking a female co-worker and telling her she likes it rough could be sexual harassment

March 3, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

But, faced with those facts, that didn’t stop one employer from moving for summary judgment and asking the court to dismiss a female employee’s claims of sexual harassment.

Could the company have possibly prevailed? Find out after the jump…

Oh wait, before we jump, I left out the part where the plaintiff claimed that her male co-worker also told her, “I’ll have you cum before you get your pants off.”

And then there’s the time when that same co-worker said, “Hey! we got your Christmas present!” whereby he held up a vibrating tool and thrust it towards the plaintiff’s genitals.

And what about the other male co-worker who would routinely come up from behind the plaintiff, lean in and smell her in a sexual fashion while pushing his groin into her?

Or when another male co-worker said to the plaintiff, “I just like fucking with you, why would I want to get you fired? I would miss watching that ass of yours!”

Ok, now we can jump and play did the employer get the case dismissed on summary judgment?

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