Discrimination and Unlawful 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?

* * *

Mohawks in the workplace aren’t gay. Stupid, but not gay.

February 26, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Three years at this blog without discussing mohawk hairstyles in the workplace. Now, two posts in one week. Which reminds me of the time I dressed up as BA Baracus for Halloween in law school

Ah, yes. That mohawk….and BA’s fear of flying. Ties right into today’s post.

(I love it when a plan comes together)

“May it please the Court. Being overweight is just like having a neon-green mohawk.”

February 21, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

That’s how I start my next oral argument when defending a claim made under the Americans with Disabilities that one of my employer clients regarded an overweight plaintiff as disabled.

So, who wants some of what I’m drinking today?

Hey, it’s peppermint tea, jerk! And I’m not pulling this blog lede out of my butt. Well, not completely, I’m not.

Well, that’s a messed up workplace religious accommodation request

February 20, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Here’s a little HR Pro Tip from your old pal, Eric.

If, around Halloween time, an employee requests permission to hand out bags of candy containing “gospel tracts,” which depict Muslims and Catholics and state that they should all go to hell, you just go ahead reject that religious-accommodation request.

(More on religious accommodations here)

Does the ADA require accommodating a graveyard shift employee with insomnia?

February 19, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Let’s assume that you run a factory in which employees are scheduled on one of two shifts: (1) 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM; or (2) 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM.

One of your employees comes to you with a doctor’s note which states that working the graveyard shift will cause the employee to suffer migraine headaches and insomnia.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that employers accommodate employees with disabilities if doing so will allow the employee to perform the essential functions of her job without creating undue hardship for the employer. One way in which an employer can reasonably accommodate an employee is through schedule adjustment or shift change.

Bad things happen when management laments to HR that black people are ugly

February 18, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Just a reminder that some managers still engage in really stupid behavior.

I was reading this case about an HR Manager of a dentistry practice.

Following an interview between a dentist in her practice and an African-American woman, the dentist allegedly commented to the HR Manager that the person would not be hired, as there were already too many blacks in Lewisville. The HR Manager then supposedly responded that “race is irrelevant.”

Are lots of your severance agreements retaliatory? EEOC says yes.

February 12, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for EEOC.jpg When your business offers a severance agreement to a departing employee, does it contain:

a general release;

a non-disparagement obligation;