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

Discrimination / Harassment

NFL draft pick of Michael Sam could move anti-gay bias bill in Missouri

05/27/2014
The St. Louis Rams’ decision to draft openly gay football player Michael Sam could help advance Missouri legislation that would include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics under state law. So says Dara Strickland, an employment law attorney and president of the LGBT Community Center of Metropolitan St. Louis.

‘Barbaric’ conditions cited in ruling against labor firm

05/23/2014
Beverly Hills-based Global Horizons, Inc., awaits a trial to determine damages that will go to Thai workers who toiled at Hawaiian plantations.

Pettiness and lousy judgment may be bad, but they don’t prove discrimination

05/23/2014

While HR professionals certainly should strive to create a respectful, courteous and pleasant workplace, don’t worry too much if you fall short. The fact is, supervisors sometimes play favorites and exhibit questionable judgment.

California among top 10 states for 2013 EEOC charges

05/23/2014
Ten states—mostly home to the nation’s largest cities or located in the South—accounted for 56% of all EEOC charges filed in 2013. California logged the third highest total.

Court expands scope of ‘me too’ evidence

05/23/2014

Employees who sue for retaliation sometimes try to bolster their cases by claiming others who complained also experienced retaliation. Until recently, courts hearing California cases had limited so-called “me too” evidence to very similar cases.

Goodhue County, Minn. dismisses ‘breast staring’ complaint

05/22/2014
The Goodhue County Board has dismissed sexual harassment complaints against three county employees, finding the charges unsubstantiated. A female employee of the county Veterans Services Office complained that her new boss created a “hostile work environment” for her and that county officials “retaliated” against her after she filed her complaint.

EEOC sues Mankato home care provider for disability bias

05/22/2014
Mankato-based Baywood Home Care faces a charge that it discriminated against a home health care aide who has fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. The EEOC has filed suit against the company, alleging it relied on stereotypes of disabled persons when it decided to fire the woman.

Judge doubles damages against University of Minnesota in golf coach case

05/22/2014
A long-running legal battle between a former women’s golf coach and the University of Minnesota has taken another turn. According to the golf coach’s attorney, problems began when the head of the university’s golf program found out that the new women’s coach was gay.

Warn managers: Even isolated comments about age can trigger an ADEA lawsuit

05/22/2014
Although a stray comment alone may not be enough to prove discrimination, when coupled with other evidence—like a younger individual hired to perform a similar or the same job as someone older who was terminated—the comment may come back to haunt you.

Comments don’t have to be overtly sexual to create an unlawful ‘hostile environment’

05/21/2014

The U.S. Supreme Court has said that Title VII gives employees, “the right to work in an environment free from discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult whether based on sex, race, religion, or national origin.” To claim that they worked in a sexually hostile environment, em­­ployees typically need to point to ongoing discrimination based on the person’s gender.