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Discrimination / Harassment

New law makes unequal pay claims easier in California

11/23/2015
Borrowing liberally from a bill that has languished on Capitol Hill (the Paycheck Fairness Act), California lawmakers have passed SB 358, which requires employers to allow employees to discuss their pay. It also makes it easier for employees to bring unequal pay claims against employers.

New EEOC rules: How do wellness plans interact with genetic-bias law?

11/17/2015
The EEOC issued a proposed rule earlier this month that aims to clarify how employers’ wellness programs would interact with a section of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.

Race-based restrooms? Write the settlement check

11/16/2015
A black female worker at a North Carolina health care company filed a race discrimination claim, saying the owner repeatedly used the N-word and maintained racially segregated restroom facilities. The court said her hostile environment claim could proceed to trial.

Settlement with back pay? Get your attorney involved

11/13/2015
Are you settling a discrimination case with termination and a back or front pay agreement? Be sure to work with counsel to find the most effective way to apply the payment. Done properly, a back pay or front pay lump sum may mean the employee can’t collect unemployment compensation payments.

Employer–not vendor–is liable for fitness-for-duty exam GINA violations

11/13/2015

Make sure that any entity you hire to conduct fitness-for-duty exams understands their responsibility to exclude genetic information requests from the determination. Otherwise, you may be liable for Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act violations. The employee doesn’t have to add the providers to the lawsuit.

Applicant selling himself short? That’s no reason to pay him less

11/13/2015

Sometimes, applicants don’t know how much money to ask for. That’s especially true if their target employer isn’t open about salary ranges or how much it is willing to pay for a particular job. What should you do if an applicant is asking for less money than the position potentially pays?

Beware the scope of religious accommodations

11/13/2015
Most employers are aware that certain dress and grooming practices generally must be accommodated in the workplace.

LGBT leader resigns, cites retaliation in firings

11/13/2015
The University of Minnesota at Duluth is still reeling from discrimination charges after it failed to renew hockey coach Shannon Miller’s contract. Miller and three of her coaches, all of whom are openly gay, were terminated.

Austin software firm sued for pregnancy discrimination

11/12/2015
Austin, Tx.-based e-MDs, which develops software for managing medical practices, faces charges it terminated an employee because she took maternity leave.

Same person sends hundreds of applications? Don’t fall into discrimination lawsuit trap

11/12/2015

Sometimes an eager candidate will apply for several jobs with the same employer. If you are sure he or she isn’t qualified, you don’t have to agree to an interview for each open position. Be aware that if you do interview him for one of the positions and choose someone else outside his protected class, he may sue and argue he was much better qualified than whoever you did choose.