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Discrimination / Harassment

Require supervisors to consult HR before removing reasonable accommodation

09/12/2024
Once an employer accepts and approves an employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation, it has essentially agreed that an accommodation was warranted. Think twice before removing that accommodation!

$45 million to settle pregnant workers’ suit

09/12/2024
In a case that highlights the need for employers to take the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act seriously, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has agreed to pay $45 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by 1,000 agency employees. The suit alleged CBP refused to accommodate pregnant workers with anything other than light-duty work.

New Illinois law highlights AI traps for employers

09/03/2024
On Aug. 9, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill that amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to limit how employers can use AI in hiring, promotion, retention and discipline. Any AI use that discriminates on the basis of protected status is now illegal.

More states ramp up pay-transparency requirements

08/30/2024
The push for pay equity is gaining momentum in statehouses nationwide. Several states have enacted legislation that prohibits employers from using new employees’ past compensation to set starting salaries and requiring them to disclose their starting pay ranges.

Pay equity trends and data: What HR departments need to know

08/22/2024
While HR professionals are likely aware of the rising trend and growth of pay transparency laws, pay equity laws are rising as well. Joanna Colosimo, vice president of workforce equity and compliance strategy at DCI Consulting, dug into this issue during a session at SHRM’s annual conference this past June.

Rules mean nothing without enforcement

08/22/2024
Rules that aren’t enforced may get you in bigger legal trouble than none at all because a jury can point to your rules as evidence you knew your legal obligations but chose to ignore them.

Didn’t know about customer harassment? Unless you were reckless, you won’t be liable

08/19/2024
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers are liable for the sexual harassment of their employees unless they have a solid no-harassment policy, a clear process for bringing harassment to management’s attention and a process to stop harassment as soon as possible. Employers must still try to prevent and stop the harassment, but employees are unlikely to win in court unless they can show that their employer recklessly permitted the customer harassment.

Beware workplace bullying, now potentially grounds for lawsuit

08/19/2024
In April, the Supreme Court’s decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis lowered the standard for what constitutes sex discrimination. The case substantially changed the rules on what employees must prove to win a discrimination case. At the time, management-side employment lawyers predicted the ruling would unleash a flood of lawsuits. Now we have one of the first cases testing the ruling’s limits.

Million-dollar mistake: Nonprofit employing disabled workers zapped for disability bias

08/14/2024
One would assume that a nonprofit company created to employ disabled workers would be up on anti-disability discrimination rules. Alas, no, if a recent EEOC settlement is any indication.

Understanding internalized gender and racial bias in feedback

08/14/2024
Recent data analysis from Textio, a company that says it was built to help companies hire and develop remarkable teams, highlights a critical issue in the workplace: the internalization of gender and racial bias in performance feedback. These biases significantly impact how feedback is perceived and processed by employees, affecting their performance, morale and even career progression.