Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment

FACT OR FICTION: The ADA requires all employers to offer light duty.

August 1, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post.”

Peep this ADA failure-to-accommodate case. Plaintiff is disabled and requests light duty. However, the evidence presented showed that there were no light duty positions available and the plaintiff presented no evidence to the contrary.

In denying the plaintiff’s ADA claim, the court underscored that it’s the plaintiff’s burden to show that a requested reasonable accommodation exists and is available. Otherwise, my friends, if it’s not available, then it’s not reasonable.

Disclosing an employee’s medical info on Facebook is hella-stupid

July 31, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Plus, it may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act too.

How one company’s alleged blunder turned into an ADA lawsuit and a blog post at https://www.theemployerhandbook.com…after the jump…

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Two years ago, no one gave this a second thought.

July 30, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

But, now. Oh boy….

Click through for a copy of the complaint.

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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