If you take on a federal contract, does that make you a state actor? No, according to a unanimous Sixth Circuit panel in Ciraci v. J.M. Smucker Company.
During World War II, the Army included Smucker’s apple butter in its...more
3/21/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Class Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
GINA ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Smuckers ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations
If an employer hires undocumented workers, are they covered under the U.S. employment laws? Initially, employers must complete Form I-9s for all new employees and cannot hire workers who are unable to establish that they’re...more
2/2/2023
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deportation ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Form I-9 ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Title VII ,
Undocumented Immigrants
For employers, figuring out what constitutes an adverse employment action under Title VII may seem elusive. In general, an adverse employment action is an ultimate employment decision that affects job duties, compensation or...more
On December 13, President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which passed the Senate and House with bipartisan support. Many see the bill as a reaction to a concurrence in the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v....more
12/16/2022
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Joe Biden ,
LGBTQ ,
Marriage ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
Title VII
Workplace hair discrimination is a topic that has floated through the media for the past several years. To prohibit discrimination, California has implemented the “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN)...more
Does a plaintiff have to specify not only the facts but also the law that applies? In Bye v. MGM Resorts, Inc., the Fifth Circuit looks at a common pleading issue: What do you do when a plaintiff pleads facts that may or may...more
An employer establishes a weekend work policy where only male employees can take both days off, and female employees can only take one weekend day off. Sounds like gender discrimination maybe? Well, in Hamilton, et al. v....more
Let’s say you are tired of your current position and want to try something new with the same employer. You apply for a job transfer, and you are turned down. Then you find out that other people were able to make the move more...more
The joint employer rule has been a hot topic in the last several years, mostly in the context of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Recall the drama of the Trump administration's narrower definition of a joint employer for...more
There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years about the joint employer test for liability under employment statutes. Whether it be Uber drivers in California or the back and forth over the Trump administration’s...more
Many of us are understandably anxious to put another tumultuous year of the pandemic behind us. But before we sit down at the table to fill our plates and bellies to overflowing to celebrate the holiday, we can all find some...more
11/24/2021
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Harassment ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Stays ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
The answer is it depends.
Why is the employee refusing the vaccine?
For employers mandating the vaccine, an employee’s refusal to receive it because he or she simply does not want to be vaccinated is likely fair game...more
9/24/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Guidance Update ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations
In another chapter in litigation alliteration, in Maner v. Dignity Health, f/k/a Catholic Healthcare West, the Ninth Circuit held that a male employee’s theory that his supervisor’s long-term romantic relationship with a...more
9/9/2021
/ Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Preferred Treatment ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Workplace Romances
You may recall our blog post last summer recapping the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia that held discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited by Title VII. After that decision,...more
7/20/2021
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Employee Training ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
New Guidance ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Employers seeking to diversify their workforces need to remember that Title VII’s prohibition on class-based discrimination still applies — even if your motives are pure. The EEOC announced that it settled a lawsuit in which...more
Retaliation claims in employment litigation have been on the rise for years. The typical scenario has an employee reporting some sort of alleged discriminatory act, either against them or a coworker, followed by the employer...more
This week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII — the main federal anti-discrimination law on the books — prohibits discrimination against employees who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT). The...more
6/16/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
If an employee misses work to attend church on Sunday morning and the company subsequently fires her, is that religious discrimination? A jury in Texas recently said yes and awarded the plaintiff close to $350,000. The...more
Is discrimination against an employee because of sexual orientation or transgender status a violation of Title VII? The EEOC previously took the position that Title VII covers those statuses but the Trump administration has...more
4/29/2019
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Certiorari ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, I have clients wanting to know what they can do both to improve their workplace and protect themselves. They all have good policies and regularly train supervisors and employees on them. So...more
9/10/2018
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Discrimination ,
EEO ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Gender Identity ,
Harassment ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Workplace Communication
I have told clients for years that they ignore claims based on sexual orientation at their peril, and another court is backing me up. An Arizona federal district court just ordered a wine bar to pay real money ($100,000) to...more
4/10/2018
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Default Judgment ,
EEO ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII
When you promote someone into a position, do you have to pay him what you paid his predecessor? As with so many things – it depends. Can you pay less if the promotee has less experience and a lower prior salary than the...more
2/28/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Reversal ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
Ever wonder why the severance agreement that I (or your other favorite employment lawyer) send you says “nothing in this Agreement prevents Employee from filing a charge with the EEOC” (or words to that effect)? I mean, isn’t...more
2/7/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Retaliation ,
Section 503 ,
Section 706 ,
Severance Agreements ,
Severance Pay ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Title VII
Sexual harassment—we have policies against it, we train people on how to prevent and report it, and yet still we have big news stories about it. In the last year, Fox News hit the headlines on this front multiple times–not...more
If you weren’t sure what it meant to discriminate against someone because of their national origin, the EEOC wants to help. The newly revised Section 13 of the EEOC Field Manual provides guidance on how the EEOC defines...more
3/9/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Harassment ,
National Origin ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Native American Issues ,
Title VII