The EEOC has filed 12 religious discrimination lawsuits in fiscal year 2013, more than in the previous year, and indicative of the increasing attention being paid to it in recent months. In general, this may be one of the areas of more frequent activity in employment law in the coming…
Our first article this week has an interesting look at FMLA eligibility for an employee who likely didn’t work the minimum number of hours in the prior year. In particular, the question is tricky because the employee is a managerial exempt employee, and the FMLA states that employers have an…
For our lead in this week, the Employment Discrimination Report has another look at how sexual harassment in the workplace can be a problem even when it is not committed by supervisors or co-workers. Basically, an employer is under an obligation to remedy a potential harassment situation if made aware…
On October 3, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that because a female intern was not an employee, she could not bring a claim for harassment under the New York City Human Rights Law against Phoenix Satellite Television, Inc. This is nothing new, as…
The 4th Circuit recently held that the discovery of poor performance reviews was sufficient basis to fire an employee, even though that employee had had recent positive reviews, and even though the negative reviews were discovered while the employee was on FMLA leave. In the case, the employee worked for…
This blog has previously covered the EEOC’s attempt to enforce a Title VII disparate impact theory against an employer utilizing a strict criminal background check. The EEOC had commenced suits against BMW and Family Dollar, and here, lost a case against Freedman Companies. The district court in the Freedman case…
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued two important decisions that narrowed the scope of Title VII. In the first case, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, the Court held retaliation claims to a higher standard of proof, while in Vance v. Ball State University, the Court narrowly described who qualifies as a supervisor. In Nassar,…
First up, the EEOC has taken action that was mentioned in its FY2013 strategic plan by more aggressively pursuing the use of criminal background checks as a type of disparate impact discrimination- where a facially neutral policy unfairly discriminates against people in a protected class. Essentially, the EEOC argues that…
In Virginia Beach, Robin Lang just won an important victory against the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service after having alleged discrimination and retaliation related to her being passed over for a promotion because of her gender. She alleged that, after having been promoted to the position of Crew Chief in 2008,…
Here are a few links to some interesting employment law articles. I’ve also posted another link to some additional information from the Department of Labor’s recent guidance regarding how the Family and Medical Leave Act applies to adult children. The Employer Handbook has a good article that should remind employees…