• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Discrimination / Harassment

Petty incidents don’t add up to a hostile environment

05/31/2018
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has made it official: Sometimes an employee just needs to grow a thicker skin to deal with the petty annoyances that vex many workplaces.

Are we allowed to refuse to hire employees with very thick foreign accents?

05/30/2018
Q. We are a large telemarketing company. We often receive customer complaints about employees who speak in thick accents. Can we refuse to hire individuals with accents for this reason?

California legislature considers a dozen new employment laws

05/30/2018
Like a pride of lions flashing teeth and fangs, the California legislature is on the hunt in 2018. As has become an annual spring ritual, Sacramento politicians have once again proposed a progressive labor agenda.

Encinitas, Calif. waitress alleges pregnancy discrimination

05/30/2018
Maurizio’s Trattoria Italiana, a fine-dining Italian restaurant in Encinitas, California, faces charges it discriminated against a waitress because of her pregnancy.

Prior salary can’t justify pay difference

05/30/2018
California employers beware: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a landmark Equal Pay Act decision that may require you to make immediate changes to how you set starting salaries.

New kid in town targeting employers: the ACLU

05/29/2018
The nonprofit, famed for fielding a skillful cadre of dogged litigators, has just entered the employment law fray by filing a class-action lawsuit against AT&T.

What to say to pregnant co-workers

05/23/2018
Do you have a pregnant co-worker or employee? Here’s a list of things you should—and shouldn’t—say during those nine, often difficult months.

What to expect: EEOC push on pregnancy bias

05/22/2018
Two recent EEOC lawsuits illustrate that the agency is serious about enforcing the Pregnancy Discrimination Act as interpreted in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Young v. UPS decision.

Court: ‘Trump supporter’ isn’t a protected category

05/21/2018
After a New York City bar tossed out a patron last year for wearing a red “Make America Great Again” cap, he sued claiming discrimination.

Employee can’t physically assault alleged harasser unless she is in danger

05/16/2018
When a customer harasses an employee, the employer may be held liable for allowing a hostile work environment if it knew about the potential problem. However, the employee has a responsibility to report the incident.