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Discrimination / Harassment

Halliburton settles charges of race, national origin bias

12/10/2019
Energy industry supplier Halliburton has agreed to settle charges it discriminated against two workers because of their national origin and religion.

Isolated comments don’t add up to harassment

12/05/2019
A few isolated comments of an arguably sexual nature aren’t enough to support a hostile work environment lawsuit. To make that case, an employee who quits and sues would have to show that a hypothetical reasonable employee would have done the same to escape the hostile environment.

Trying to encourage resignation can backfire

12/05/2019
Some supervisors mistakenly believe that it won’t have any consequences if they can convince an employee to quit. That’s not true.

EEOC pending charges at 13-year low

12/03/2019
The EEOC reduced its inventory of pending private-sector charges by 12.1% in fiscal year 2019.

Witnessing discrimination doesn’t justify lawsuit

12/02/2019
Under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, everyone in the state is entitled to equal rights in all California businesses. Does that mean a bystander to discriminatory conduct has the right to sue? The answer is no.

FEHA retaliation must be tied to legit FEHA claim

12/02/2019
Workers who complain about discrimination that’s illegal under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act are protected from retaliation. Making an initial complaint qualifies as protected activity. But not every complaint is protected.

Plaintiff need not be ‘clearly superior’ to comparator to prevail in discrimination cases

12/02/2019
An employer has lost a bid to force workers to show they are “clearly superior” to another employee before challenging a termination decision. Workers need only compare their treatment to other, similarly situated workers when challenging firing, hiring or promotion decisions.

Never ignore supervisor harassment

12/02/2019
When employees complain that their supervisor is engaging in harassing behavior, don’t ignore the complaints. Instead, fully investigate and make sure any comments stop, fast. Then check back to verify the environment has indeed changed.

California becomes 3rd state to bar ‘no rehire’ clauses

12/02/2019
In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB749, legislation that prohibits employers from barring sexual harassment victims from being rehired by the employer.

Despite law, 70 California firms have no women on boards

12/02/2019
Last year, the state passed a law requiring companies headquartered in California to have at least one female director on their board. As a result, female representation in California boardrooms has risen 23%. However, not all California firms received the message.