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Discrimination / Harassment

EEOC issues new resources on LGBT bias

07/01/2021
The commission even developed a new acronym for bias against LGBT employees: SOGI, which stands for sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.

High Court: Only 3 cases affected employers

06/29/2021
No case in this term rose to the level of last year’s Bostock v. Clayton County, a blockbuster decision that said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination because they are gay or transgender. However, these cases matter to employers.

Visit field operations to detect harassment, bias

06/24/2021
If your organization has far-flung operations, get out of HQ and into the field as often as you can. Unannounced inspections are the best way to spot harassment and discrimination that could result in huge penalties.

Advice to ‘put on big girl panties’ backfires

06/24/2021
When fielding a workplace harassment complaint, it may be tempting to suggest the alleged victim try to resolve the matter herself instead of filing a full-blown complaint with HR. That’s a terrible idea.

Warn interviewers not to ask loaded questions

06/24/2021
Train hiring managers to avoid asking intrusive, irrelevant and potentially illegal questions during job interviews. Loaded questions can spur a lawsuit if the candidate isn’t hired—and jurors may conclude the questions are smoking-gun evidence that proves discrimination.

Report: Wage gaps between races continue to widen

06/22/2021
Wage disparities between Black and White workers have increased in the last 10 years, even for people with otherwise comparable backgrounds and qualifications, according to a new study by The Conference Board business research organization.

Be alert to new legal risk: vaccine-status harassment

06/17/2021
Harassing a co-worker because of his or her unvaccinated status might cross the line into unlawful protected-class harassment. In that case, an employer might have honest-to-goodness liability for allowing such harassment to continue uncorrected.

Paycheck Fairness Act stalls, lacking Senate votes

06/17/2021
Legislation that would amend the Equal Pay Act to make it easier to sue for sex-based pay discrimination won’t become law this year, failing to win the backing of 60 senators necessary to overcome a filibuster.

HR pros gain broad Title VII protection

06/17/2021
A recent federal appeals court decision may be good news for HR pros and bad news for employers that think they can get away with retaliation if they try to quash discrimination investigations.

Same-sex harassment may include nonsexual behavior

06/10/2021
Don’t ignore a sexual harassment complaint just because the workplace consists of members of a single sex and there’s no claim that the harasser was seeking sexual favors.