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Discrimination / Harassment

Don’t use citizenship as a hiring factor

12/20/2022
Most employers know they can’t take protected characteristics like age or disability into consideration. But some hiring managers may think it’s fine to bypass an applicant with a precarious legal immigration status in favor of a U.S. citizen based on the belief that citizens won’t lose the legal right to work. They are wrong.

Pre-employment pregnancy test? Don’t think about it

12/15/2022
If it looks illegal and smells illegal, then it’s illegal.

Title VII violated when Ford refused to hire pregnant woman who passed physical exam

12/15/2022
The Ford Motor Company must pay $115,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit.

Federal court sends EEOC’s LGBTQ guidance back to drawing board

12/15/2022
The Supreme Court rules—and then what happens? You must implement the ruling ASAP. In time, the EEOC may issue guidance on how to do just that. In this case, the EEOC’s guidance went too far. Texas challenged the guidance.

Promoting or hiring? Be sure to document why your choice is best

12/15/2022
Whenever you’re hiring or promoting from within and choosing from several candidates, someone is going to be disappointed. And that means there’s the potential for legal trouble if you don’t make sure your process was lawsuit-proof.

Religious accommodations and how to implement them

12/15/2022
Employers have a legal obligation to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of their employees. Employers want to get it right but navigating religious accommodations can be tricky. Here is some practical information to help employers better understand their general obligations.

Court calls working beyond pay grade intolerable

12/15/2022
Generally, workers must be turned down for a job, demoted or fired before they can sue their employers and allege discrimination as the reason. But as with many things in life, there’s an exception—the concept of constructive discharge holds that if an employer makes the employee’s work life “intolerable,” that justifies quitting. The worker can then sue despite not having been fired.

EEOC settles with union over forced return-to-office policy

12/15/2022
The American Federation of Government Employees filed a complaint against the EEOC over its mandatory return-to-the-office policy. The EEOC attempted to unilaterally implement a policy requiring staff to return to the office immediately, terminating remote and telework arrangements without negotiating with the union.

Can racial equity training create a hostile work environment?

12/15/2022
A former employee of Seattle’s Human Services Department is suing the city in federal court, claiming a program by the city’s Office for Civil Rights created a hostile work environment for him, as he is white.

Snapshot: Down, down, down: Discrimination claims at EEOC drop

12/13/2022
In 2021, the EEOC received the lowest number of charges from workers in more than two decades—61,331, down 9.1% from 2020.