Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment

Here are the results of the diversity, equity, and inclusion survey. You may be surprised…

September 11, 2020 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image by Prohibition to publish images as your work in photobanks! from Pixabay

On the heels of the federal government announcing that it will change how it trains federal workers on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), thank you to the hundreds of readers that took a few minutes to respond to this anonymous survey about DEI efforts in your workplace.

Below are the survey results. (If you are viewing this in an email, you’ll need to download the images.) I’ll add my commentary at the end.

VLOG time! The EEOC dropped some new-ish COVID-19 guidance for employers.

September 9, 2020 | by Eric B. Meyer

Connetmiller / CC BY

You can either read it here. Or, you can relax with a morning ~~scotch~~ latte and watch me explain it in this latest video from The Employer Handbook YouTube Channel. (Click here to subscribe).

Either way, enjoy! Continue reading

The government plans to change how it trains employees on issues of race

September 8, 2020 | by Eric B. Meyer

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This two-page memo from the Executive Office of the President made several headlines on Friday. Continue reading

Can a non-employee sue under Title VII as the target of the retaliation against his child?

September 2, 2020 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: https://pixy.org/528010/

I’ve got a hypothetical situation for you. Continue reading

Here is a page from the COVID-19 ADA accommodation playbook

August 31, 2020 | by Eric B. Meyer

By John Dorwin – <span class=”int-own-work” lang=”en”>Own work</span>, Public Domain, Link

In its recent COVID-19 Americans with Disabilities Act guidance, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission encouraged that employers be flexible in determining accommodations for employees during the pandemic. Some suggestions included temporary job restructuring of marginal job duties, temporary transfers to a different position, or modifying a work schedule or shift assignment to permit an individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job safely.

One employer may be learning this lesson the hard way. Continue reading

Jacob Blake, racism, and what it means to be on the right side of history

August 28, 2020 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image by Jody Davis from Pixabay

On Wednesday evening, the players on the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks shocked us all. Continue reading

1,250,000 reasons to take all complaints of race discrimination seriously

August 24, 2020 | by Eric B. Meyer

Two black employees complain to a supervisor that a white co-worker is taunting them with racial pejoratives.

What do you do? Continue reading

Can a business legally require face masks in the workplace? Would sarcasm change the answer?

August 21, 2020 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image by Hatice EROL from Pixabay

Let’s find out… Continue reading

An indefinite leave of absence may be an ADA reasonable accommodation. Wait, WHAT?!?

August 19, 2020 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay

As employment lawyers, we counsel clients that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to requests for reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Indeed, they are very fact-specific. Although, there is one fundamental immutable truth; namely, a request for an indefinite leave of absence is never reasonable under the ADA.

Or so, I thought. Continue reading

COVID-19 doesn’t prevent claims of sexual harassment. Just ask a certain hockey mascot. 🏒🦁

August 17, 2020 | by Eric B. Meyer

Santeri Viinamäki / CC BY-SA

We’re in the middle of a pandemic. While telework and ‘social distancing’ don’t eliminate the possibility of a sexual harassment claim, let’s face it, we’re not exactly in the same #MeToo world as we were last year. But that doesn’t mean that businesses can take sexual harassment any less seriously.

Because you never know when an incident may arise. Like maybe…