Category: EEOC
EEOC's Five Core Principles for Preventing and Addressing Harassment
Last week the EEOC released proposed Enforcement Guidance on Unlawful Harassment with a Press Release noting that the proposed Guidance is available for input until February 9, 2017. Information on how to provide feedback on the Guidance is available here . Whether one chooses to provide feedback or not...
Western District of Pennsylvania Rules Sexual Orientation Discrimination Protected by Title VII
On Friday, November 4, 2016, the Western District of Pennsylvania issued an order denying the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss in EEOC v. Scott Medical Health Center (No. 2:16-cv-00225) finding that a claim of sexual orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil...
EEOC’s 2017-2021 Initiatives Announced
The EEOC has posted its Strategic Enforcement Plan for Fiscal Years 2017-2021. Included in the substantive priorities: 1. Eliminating Barriers in Recruitment and Hiring. 2. Protecting Vulnerable Workers, Including Immigrant and Migrant Workers, and Underserved Communities from Discrimination. 3. Addressing Selected Emerging and Developing Issues. 4. Ensuring Equal Pay...
“The Writing is On the Wall”: Seventh Circuit Clears Up Any Misconceptions the Public May Have on the Court’s View on Sexual Orientation Discrimination
Late last week, the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College , in which it held that Title VII provides no redress for discrimination of the basis of sexual orientation. The Seventh Circuit is the first federal court of appeals court to rule on...
Is “Boy, you need to pray” Comment to Biscuit Maker A Violation of Title VII?
The EEOC continues its push to recognize job protection for LGBT workers under Title VII. On Wednesday, the EEOC filed a lawsuit against Bojangles Restaurants Inc. alleging that the restaurant chain discriminated and retaliated against former employee Jonathan Wolfe. The Complaint alleges Wolfe, who was transitioning from male to...
Post-It Up or Pay It Up: The Double-It Year Continues
You know how we harp on the easy things? Like having all the required state and federal posting requirements hung in a place where employees can easily find them? This serves as just another friendly reminder that those postings are important. Prior to 2014, the maximum penalty for failing...
Benchslapped! EEOC & NLRB May Have to Pull Out Their Debit Cards
For those employment lawyers who believe that the EEOC and NLRB have tended to overreach of late (i.e., the defense bar), two separate decisions handed down against those agencies caused a distinct feeling of schadenfreude . 1 Or, as one legal scholar noted in a somewhat different context, "...
Obesity and the ADA: Does 33% of the U.S. Population Have ADA Protection as a Result of Obesity?
Yesterday, the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion in Morriss v. BNSF Railway Co. , No. 14-3858 (April 5, 2016), rejecting the plaintiff's argument that obesity (in and of itself) is sufficient to maintain an ADA claim. The Eighth Circuit joins the Sixth Circuit and the Second Circuit in coming...
Women Footballers Ask EEOC to Give the Boot To Wage Discrimination
Interesting story that developed on Wednesday: some of the biggest names in U.S. women's soccer filed a wage discrimination claim with the EEOC, contending that the U.S. Soccer Federation pays them almost four times less than members of the men's team, despite the women generating nearly $20 million more...
Let’s Talk about Sex(ual Orientation) Lawsuits under Federal Law
The last few weeks have been filled with filings and decisions in federal courts across the country regarding sexual orientation as a basis for a Title VII lawsuit. On March 1, 2016, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") filed its first sexual orientation discrimination claims in Pittsburg...
EEOC Builds Off of "Rosebud" Momentum Seeking Extensive Pay Data
Today the EEOC announced proposed changes to the EEO-1 form that will affect federal contractors and all employers who employ over 100 individuals. The proposal (available here ) would require employers to provide wage data for employees falling into 10 job categories with the requirement that employers identify gender...
EEOC to 11th Circuit: Title VII Prohibits Sexual Orientation Discrimination
Well, this just got interesting. Tracking a position it took last summer in an agency decision involving a federal employee , the EEOC recently filed an amicus brief with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that Title VII prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. In its brief...
Santa Makes Him Hurry: Run Rudolph Run - as to Wellness, the Government Speaks with Forked Hoof
If you have had the feeling that the creators and enforcers of the ACA speak with forked hoof, just see how the Federal Government speaks about wellness programs. The ACA increased the ability of employers to reward employees who engage in healthy activities, such as cardio improvement (or, if...
Ba Rump Pa Pum Whaaaa?: Little Drummer Boy and the Out-of-Date Minimum Lifting Requirements
When was the last time you reviewed the "minimum lifting requirements" in your job descriptions? In several cases this year, courts have looked skeptically at job requirements listed in an employer's job description. Specifically, judges have not been willing to take the employer's word for it that lifting, say...
Prospero Ano y Felicidad: Feliz Navidad and an "English Only" Policy in the Workplace
As Jose Feliciano wishes us a Merry Christmas from the bottom of his heart, it is important that we as employers recognize that in order to maintain a diverse workforce we are going to be faced with some difficult questions—including whether an "English Only" policy is necessary or appropriate...
EEO-1 Deadline Extension
While normally EEO-1 reports have a filing deadline of September 30 (yes that was yesterday), this year the EEOC Joint Reporting Committee extended the EEO-1 Deadline to October 30, 2015 . Accordingly, while this extension is helpful to many employers, we suggest employers review the 2015 EEO-1 changes and...
Jury Finds "Food with Integrity" Terminated with Integrity Despite EEOC’s Claims to the Contrary: Jury Verdict Returned in Chipotle’s Favor after ADA Battle
On Monday, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the District of Massachusetts entered judgment in favor of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., after a five-day trial concluded on August 7, with a jury finding in favor of Chipotle Mexican Grill on a disability discrimination claim brought by former employee Amanda...
How Not to Handle a “Jezebel Spirit”
The answer is fairly obvious: don't refer to someone as having a Jezebel Spirit. If this happens, however, and an employee can't help but make the reference, pray (literally and figuratively) that it is not a manager. Last month, Lisa McKinley filed a lawsuit against the Salvation Army in...
Sixth Circuit’s Panel Decision Isn’t Built Ford Tough
Earlier this month, the Sixth Circuit issued an en banc decision in the EEOC v. Ford Motor Co. matter concerning the ADA and telecommuting; finding that telecommuting up to four days a week was not a reasonable accommodation. We have been following the opinion both initially and when the...
The Meaning of “Rosebud” Isn’t Just a Citizen Kane Issue Anymore: EEOC Suit Without An Aggrieved Individual Survives Motion to Dismiss
On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that the EEOC does not have to identify any specifically aggrieved individual to pursue a race bias lawsuit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The case, EEOC v. Rosebud Restaurants, Inc. , alleges that...
Fourth Circuit Affirm’s Exclusion of EEOC’s “Cherry-Picked” Data in Background Check Suit
Approximately 18 months ago we discussed the United States District Court for the District of Maryland's ruling that the EEOC had failed to show that an event-planning company's use of criminal background checks, as well as credit checks, resulted in a disparate impact against male and black applicants. On...