Articles Posted in Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment

A lawyer claimed that his employer had discriminated against him based on his race, color, gender, and age, when it terminated his employment and filled a position nearly identical to that which he held prior to his termination with a younger, African-American woman. So he sued.

Oh, I forgot one important fact. By the time he sued, the lawyer-plaintiff had already signed a severance agreement and release (the “Release”). Continue reading

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Highway Patrol Images [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Maybe you’ve been reading this employment law blog for years. Or today could be your first time here. (What took you so long?) You may be a licensed attorney, an HR professional, or just a blog groupie on the dark path to a restraining order. Whatever your background and experience, I’m guessing that you can determine whether the plaintiff I’m about to describe to you, a former Ohio police trooper, has a viable claim for race discrimination. Continue reading

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By U.S. Government – Extracted from PDF file here., Public Domain, Link

On April 25, 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The EEOC believes that the use of criminal record history and other background checks can have a disparate impact by disproportionately screening out certain minorities without any business-related need.

After several potholes and speedbumps trying to enforce its guidance in the courtroom against employer-defendants, the EEOC has finally won a big race. Continue reading

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Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

There are times when employers have to make difficult decisions impacting the workplace. Today, I’m going to talk to you about one of them involving an employee who attempted suicide and, subsequently, pressed the company to return him to work.

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You have an underperforming supervisor in your workplace. Several employees have complained about her work performance and leadership. So, the plan is to fire her. Except, three weeks before you terminate this supervisor’s employment, she complains about discrimination.

Can you go through with the termination? Or is the timing so suggestive of retaliation that you’re practically guaranteeing a jury trial on that issue?

Let’s find out…

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Our first full day of London sightseeing is in the books. Not only did I leave and return home to our VRBO with four children — #DadOfTheYear — but I also found a suitable protector for the many barrels of local whiskey that I’m gate-checking at Heathrow when I return home.

It was a good day. Continue reading

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Having avoided sepsis and other O’Hare carpet-related food contamination, the Meyer Family arrived in London yesterday, dominated some fish and chips (not pictured above) in Soho, and is gearing up for a full day of sightseeing and shenanigans today.

So, with the kids in bed and me at the computer sipping a 330 ml British IPA — God Bless America and it’s full 12 oz beer cans, yeah, I Googled the conversion rate — I have a little time to blog. Continue reading

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Image Credit: https://publicdomainvectors.org/en/free-clipart/Old-man-with-cane/46227.html

There are plenty of buzzwords and phrases that, when uttered in the workplace, made provide good fodder for an age discrimination claim.

For example, referring to someone as an ‘old timer’ can be direct evidence of age discrimination. Then, if an email were to surface in which the company writes that it is ʺlooking for young sharksʺ to become junior salespeople, well that’s not got either.

Except, here’s the thing. Continue reading

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“Doing What’s Right – Not Just What’s Legal”
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