Discrimination and EEOC Compliance
Discrimination and EEOC Compliance News, Articles, Blogs, Webinars, White Papers & Events. Human Resources Management featuring HR news on Discrimination and EEOC Compliance.
-
Patriots Cutting Diabetic Player Raises Serious ADA Issues
It is an understatement to characterize this termination—undertaken without any apparent consideration of whether the team could accommodate the diabetes—as high risk. It would not surprise me in the least if, given the high profile nature of this employment decision, the EEOC takes up Kyle Love's
-
EEOC Revises Guidelines for Employment Rights of People With Specific Disabilities
Cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and intellectual disabilities are listed among the revisions.
-
EEOC Sues Company for Forced Practice of Scientology
If any of the EEOC's allegations in the lawsuit are true, the agency is going to have an easy time winning this case, which serves a good reminder that an employer cannot force its employees to conform to, follow, or practice, the employer's chosen religious practices and beliefs.
-
EEOC Lands Its Largest Settlement Ever
I never thought I'd read about a case in which I could say to myself, “A $240 million jury verdict doesn't seem all that out of whack.” Then I read about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent $240 million jury verdict against Henry's Turkey Service. The agency alleged that the farm
-
A Look at Abercrombie and Fitch's 'Look' Policies
If you hope to claim an undue hardship defense to a religious accommodation claim based on your company's image, you need to have the hard data to back your claim. Hypothetical hardships likely will not carry the day.
-
A 'Wet One' Renders Him Gay? 5th Circuit to Reconsider Same-Sex Harassment Case
In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Boh Brothers Constr. Co. , ironworker Kerry Woods (male) asserted that his supervisor, Chuck Wolfe, subjected him to all of the following: Called Woods names such as "faggot" and "princess." Approached Woods from behind to simulate sexual intercourse.
-
There Is No Such Thing as a 'License to Harass'
Employees need to understand that some participation in sex-based workplace hijinks does not create a license to harass in perpetuity. No one can tell where someone draws his or her personal line of inappropriateness, and trying to make that decision for someone else can only result in trouble ...
-
It's Your Last Chance … to Avoid Retaliation
Agreements are wonderful tools to use with our employees. They come in all shapes and sizes. No matter the agreement, however, there is one clause that it cannot contain: a covenant by the employee waiving his or her right to file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC.
-
Religious Objections to Health Care Requirements
Sakile Chenzira sued her employer, claiming she was discriminated against because of her religious beliefs in veganism. The U.S. district court ruled that veganism could be considered a “religious practice” and that Chenzira may have a plausible bias claim against the hospital.
-
Customer Preference Does Not Protect Employers From Race Discrimination Claims
If you find yourself in a position of having to face down a customer making such a request, take a stand. Tell the customer, “We don't treat our employees like that, and if you can't deal, we don't need your business.” Be the better corporate citizen. It's not just the legal way to act, it's the ...
-
Take a Pregnant Pause Before Firing That Pregnant Worker
Firing a pregnant employee is a risky proposition.You not only have to worry about Title VII, but also potential liability under the Family and Medical Leave Act (if you are large enough to be covered), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (if the employee suffers from a pregnancy-related ...
-
Accommodating Disabled Job Applicants is No Game
If a job applicant needs an accommodation to complete the interview process, and it does not impose an undue burden, provide it. If it turns out that someone cannot perform the essential functions of the job even with an accommodation, you are within your rights to deny employment. You cannot make
-
Should Employers Be Liable for Conduct They Cannot Control? Fired for Tweeting About Third-Party Misconduct
For Richards to have a reasonable belief that she experienced unlawful discrimination or harassment, her employer needs to be able to do something about the alleged discrimination or harassment. What could Richards' employer have done? It couldn't conduct an investigation. It couldn't discipline ...
-
A Cautionary Tale on What Happens When You Botch a Litigation Hold
As soon as you reasonably anticipate litigation, you have an absolute duty to implement a written litigation hold that both instructs employees to preserve paper and electronic records relevant to the case, and suspends any automated processes that otherwise might result in the destruction of such
-
Legal Briefing: Religious Objections to Health Care
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been challenged in several recent cases. Its provisions require that employers provide contraceptive coverage. Several business owners and organizations have gone to the courts since they objected to providing health care to their employees that ...
-
Legal Briefing: Discrimination as a Substantial Motivating Factor
Wynona Harris, a bus driver employed by the city of Santa Monica, California, was fired on the same day she submitted a doctor's note to her supervisor stating that she could continue working through her pregnancy with limited restrictions. Harris sued, alleging pregnancy discrimination in ...
-
How Long is Too Long for an Unpaid Medical Leave of Absence? Not Two Weeks and a Day.
Think long and hard before you deny a request for unpaid time off for an employee's medical issue, and, when in doubt, call your employment counsel for a sanity check.
-
Court Reverses Ruling, Says UPS Worker Entitled to Trial on ADA Claim
The complex case of Teresa Watts v. United Parcel Service Inc. has gone to trial three times and been appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati once before, according to the 6th Circuit's latest ruling.
