Articles Posted in Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment

If your pregnant employee experiences a stillbirth or miscarriage, whatever you do, don’t do this

October 1, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Today’s lesson is about the interplay between the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires employers to accommodate known disabilities absent undue hardship, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which took effect last year and also requires an employer to accommodate known limitations related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions unless doing so will result in an undue hardship. Continue reading

THIS must be part of your 2025 anti-harassment training if it’s not already,

September 27, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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In the past week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has brought two lawsuits against employers that allegedly violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against transgender employees.

Do we have to hire the best candidate for the job … if they have a visible Swastika tattoo?

September 26, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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I’ve read this post and this post about this recent lawsuit about seven current and former employees who claim they were forced to work with ‘Nazi sympathizers.’ They allege that the company hired and promoted a white employee with a swastika tattoo on his face and ties to a white nationalist group.

If true — and remember that these are just allegations in a complaint — that’s awful.

But let’s change the facts. Continue reading

A 100%-healed policy may 100% violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act

September 24, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Last week, we discussed an FMLA policy that your business needs to rip from its employee handbook and burn with fire. This week, we revisit an Americans Disabilities Act policy that should end up on the paper shredder: the 100% healed policy.

Why would an employee sue his employer for offering him 100% telework as a disability accommodation?

September 20, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Folks, I’ve lost track of the number of disability accommodation requests on which I’ve counseled human resources concerning employee requests to work full-time from home. So, when I came across a recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit involving a failure-to-accommodate claim where the employer insisted on a 100% telework accommodation, I read with interest, as we lawyers like to say.

Lying lawyer loses lawsuit. Let’s look.

September 18, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

André Koehne, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Early in my career, I learned that it’s bad form for a lawyer to accuse another party of having “lied.” Judges generally frown upon this.

So, you can imagine that my interest was piqued when I read an Eighth Circuit decision issued yesterday weighing “the appropriate sanction for a plaintiff who lied in a deposition and withheld information.”

Rip this FMLA policy out of your employee handbook. And burn it with fire.

September 17, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Employers that maintain a policy of treating any employee unable to return to work following the expiration of FMLA leave as having voluntarily resigned are begging for trouble.

But don’t just take my word for it. Continue reading

EEOC sues company for supposedly imposing a one pregnant-employee limit for its workforce

September 11, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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***checks notes*** unlawful

An employer’s offer of remote work from the office may be an ADA reasonable accommodation alternative to work from home

September 9, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Let me set the scene for you. Continue reading

Did you know that even temporary impairments like a back injury can qualify as disabilities?

September 6, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Back in the day, it could be difficult for a plaintiff claiming disability discrimination even to prove that they had a disability. Continue reading

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