Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment

Here are four ways to BOTCH a sexual harassment investigation

February 14, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Last month, I told you that an employer’s response to a harassment complaint doesn’t need to be perfect. Just ok may do. That’s because an employer that learns about sexual harassment needs to respond in a way that is reasonably designed to end the complained-of behavior.

Well, I read a recent federal court decision in which the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged that an employer’s response to complaints of sexual harassment in September and December 2019 was deficient in at least four ways. Continue reading

How do we help our employee who tells us she has early-onset Alzheimer’s disease?

February 13, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Hopefully, your business never has to address a situation where an employee is suffering from progressive memory loss and cognitive decline. But, suppose one of your employees informs you that they have early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

How should the company respond?

Not all retaliation laws are alike. There’s one that doesn’t even require any intent to retaliate.

February 12, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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There are all sorts of anti-retaliation laws that protect employees. Many require that employees who invoke them prove that the employer acted with retaliatory intent.

But not all of them.

A federal jury awarded $1,675,000 to a deaf applicant passed over for two warehouse positions

February 9, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Before discussing the jury verdict, I’ll tell you a little about how we got here.
Continue reading

Here are 105,000 reasons not to force an older worker to retire

February 8, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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“When are you going to retire?” “Why don’t you retire at 65?” “What is the reason you are not retiring?” Continue reading

A court correctly dismissed claims of age discrimination, IMO. But, this employment lawyer still has a bone to pick.

February 7, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Last night, I read a NJ Appellate Division opinion about a plaintiff in his fifties who claimed his age motivated the defendant to end his employment.

Spoiler alert: it didn’t.

Do as I say, not as I do? (You won’t believe how much the feds paid to settle allegations of “egregious and continual sexual harassment.”)

February 6, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Federal agencies, like the U.S. Department of Justice, often publish news releases touting their lawsuits and significant judgments against employer scofflaws.

But, I know a big one — a $1.2M judgment — that the DOJ will want to forget. Continue reading

Will training white employees on “white fragility” and other concepts linked to racism create a hostile work environment? Probably not.

February 5, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Last week, I wrote (here) about a white college professor who successfully alleged that his employer subjected him to a hostile work environment, at least, in part, because of particular training and conferences he attended about racism. Continue reading

Training about racism can foster a hostile work environment. Wait, WHAT?!?

February 1, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Wait a minute, Eric! Weren’t you just telling us that anti-harassment training is part of the backbone of a compliant workplace?

I did. But, occasionally, employers can step over the line. Continue reading

An EEOC Commissioner takes issue with a billionaire’s position on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

January 31, 2024 | by Eric B. Meyer

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Folks, I did not have EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas giving billionaire Mark Cuban a public antidiscrimination lesson on my Bingo board.

But, as I was scrolling through X on Monday, here is what I saw:

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On Sunday, Mr. Cuban, of Shark Tank fame, the former principal owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and a proponent of DEI policies, tweeted that he’s “never hired anyone based exclusively on race, gender, religion.”