The Employer Handbook Blog

The EEOC updated its COVID-19 guidance again with new information on retaliation

November 18, 2021 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: finger pointing by BomSymbols from the Noun Project

While nerds like me were flooding LinkedIn with status updates about Sixth Circuit this and OSHA ETS that, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was ~~hosting a secret “virtual dialogue” with the employer Illuminati about retaliation~~ updating its COVID-19 Technical Assistance to include additional information on retaliation.

Anything 🤯? Continue reading

The Sixth Circuit “won the lottery” and will decide the fate of the OSHA vax-or-test mandate

November 17, 2021 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image by Alejandro Garay from Pixabay

Filed Under: Every Employment Law Blogger Will Be Blogging About This Today.

Employer wigs out over an African American employee’s hair; EEOC claims race discrimination

November 16, 2021 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Wig by Daniela Baptista from the Noun Project

In recent years, some states and municipalities have made it unlawful to discriminate based on an individual’s hairstyle because certain protected classes — usually Black women — receive unfair treatment based on inherent hair texture and protective hairstyles, like braids, locs, and twists. Why, yesterday, Tempe became the second city in Arizona to pass a hair discrimination ban.

There’s nothing explicit under federal antidiscrimination law, like Title VII, that outlaws hair discrimination. But, that hasn’t stopped the EEOC from pursuing related claims for race discrimination. Continue reading

The Fifth Circuit just dunked hard on OSHA’s vax-or-test mandate

November 15, 2021 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: slam dunk by Andrew Doane from the Noun Project

On Friday afternoon, when four of my FisherBroyles employer law partners and I were dissecting the OSHA vax-or-test Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on Zoom — ICYMI, you can watch the replay here on The Employer Handbook YouTube Channel (https://bit.ly/TheEmployerHandbookYouTube) — I asked them to raise their hand if they thought that the ETS would ultimately survive judicial scrutiny.

No one did. Continue reading

Drop that COVID-19 religious accommodation exemption form says one EEOC Commissioner

November 12, 2021 | by Eric B. Meyer

form by Jason Tropp from the Noun Project

Before I tell you which COVID-19 religious accommodation form you need to trash right away, don’t forget that today is the big, free live Zoom on the new OSHA vaccine-or-test mandate. Join me and my partners Amy Epstein Gluck, David Renner, Sid Steinberg, Gordon Berger at Noon ET. Register here (https://bit.ly/OSHAETSZoom). Continue reading

Three federal agencies want to end retaliation by hosting a “virtual dialogue” with employers next week.

November 11, 2021 | by Eric B. Meyer

Speech dialogue balloon by icon 54 from the Noun Project

Yesterday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced a joint initiative to raise awareness about retaliation issues when workers exercise their protected labor rights. Continue reading