The Employer Handbook Blog
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Articles Posted in Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment
Jerk customers can create hostile work environments for your workers too
As I sit here on vacation cleaning out some of the older cases from my Google Drive, I came across this Fifth Circuit decision about which I meant to blog a while ago. It’s about a baccarat dealer who had to deal with a customer making sexually charged gestures, remarks about her appearance, and sexual propositions toward her.
No employee should have to deal with this type of behavior. But does the law recognize that customers can create a hostile work environment for one of your employees?
Yes, a man can have an (un)equal pay claim too. So how can a company defend itself?
The Equal Pay Act (EPA) prohibits employers from discriminating against an employee based on sex by paying lower wages than are paid to employees of the opposite sex for performing equal work. We usually see women assert EPA claims.
But men can have them too. Continue reading
How can unionized companies accommodate employees with religious beliefs without violating a CBA?
Back in 1977, Star Wars premiered, Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown, and the Supreme Court established that employers need not reasonably accommodate religious beliefs under Title VII if inconsistent with a collective bargaining agreement. Plus, Title VII does not require an employer to discriminate against other union employees by depriving them of seniority rights to accommodate an employee’s observance of the Saturday Sabbath.
While the EEOC facilitates bias claims for non-binary employees, here are seven ways to support them at work.
The nation’s anti-discrimination enforcer is promoting greater equity and inclusion for members of the LGBTQI+ community. Soon, non-binary individuals can select a nonbinary “X” gender marker during the voluntary self-identification questions that are part of the intake process for filing a charge of discrimination. Continue reading
Five reasons why EEOC mediation may be right for your business
Last night, in an American Bar Association study, I read that juries decide less than one percent of federal civil cases. Sometimes parties win on motion. But most of these cases settle somewhere along the way. Knowing this — and considering the cost of litigation — it shocks me that more businesses don’t attempt to resolve employment disputes pre-litigation.
So, in a few hundred words and with the help of some recent statistics from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, I’m going to try to convince you to jump on the early mediation train. Continue reading
A bill to end hair discrimination takes another step towards becoming federal law.
On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s texture or style of hair with a vote of 235-189. Continue reading
The EEOC has new caregiver discrimination guidance. I’ll sum it up for you in two words.
Yesterday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shared new guidance for employers to avoid caregiver discrimination issues for employees with caregiver responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EEOC included a new section on caregivers/family responsibilities in its ongoing COVID-19 FAQ, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other “EO Laws.” There’s even a new short video explaining caregiver discrimination in English and Spanish.
The EEOC has a clear message for employers when employees need time away from the office to care for others.
Don’t ruin your arbitration agreements by doing this…
Some of you require your employees to sign agreements requiring them to arbitrate employment claims — other than claims of sexual harassment or abuse, of course. Continue reading