Discrimination / Harassment

Accommodate teenage workers’ disabilities, too

07/21/2022

One of the EEOC’s primary enforcement priorities is protecting teen workers from harassment and discrimination. Employers that tolerate abuse of younger employees can expect an EEOC lawsuit that is likely to result in an expensive judgment or settlement.

Investigate all harassment complaints ASAP

07/21/2022

Act fast as soon as you learn an employee has complained about harassment. If you don’t, you may lose the only defense your organization has.

Abortion discrimination is still illegal pregnancy bias

07/19/2022

As controversial and divisive of an issue as abortion is (perhaps now more than ever), the law is clear that an employer cannot fire an employee for having one. Nothing the Supreme Court did in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization changes this.

You can’t discriminate based on type of citizenship

07/14/2022

Employers cannot discriminate against citizens, legal immigrants and others with valid work visas on the basis of their national origin. The EEOC has made it clear that the type of citizenship an applicant holds can’t be used as a reason not to hire. That, too, would amount to national-origin discrimination.

Court: Faith allows skipping preferred pronouns

07/14/2022

A worker whose gender identity differs from that assigned at birth can insist on being addressed by his or her preferred pronouns. At the same time, a co-worker whose sincerely held religious beliefs reject the concept of transgenderism might object on religious grounds to having to use those preferred pronouns.

Prepare to prove hardship of accommodating religion

07/07/2022

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs and practices unless doing so would create an undue burden on business operations. That means employers that reject a religious accommodation request must be prepared to demonstrate exactly how it would have created an undue hardship.

Excuse nonbelievers from prayer at work

07/05/2022

The EEOC is suing a North Carolina residential construction and renovation company for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when it required employees to attend prayer sessions at work.

Learn from Google’s $118 million pay-equity lesson

06/30/2022

Many employers regularly conduct equity studies to make sure their pay policies don’t discriminate based on gender, race or other protected characteristics. It’s considered a best practice to outsource those studies in order to blunt criticism that an internal review wasn’t thorough or accurate.

Investigate harassment no matter who is implicated

06/24/2022

The EEOC does not tolerate employers that ignore sexual harassment by senior leaders. You must immediately investigate such allegations, employing neutral outside investigators if possible.

Document how you tried to accommodate religion

06/09/2022

Employers must reasonably accommodate employees’ religious beliefs and need to worship. But it’s not an absolute mandate; the accommodation must be reasonable. If it would cause an undue hardship, employers must document their accommodation efforts and the disruption caused by unsuccessful attempts to accommodate religious needs.