Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a proposed guidance on workplace harassment. The EEOC intends the guidance to replace the current document that was issued in 1999....more
As the U.S. becomes more politically divided, employers increasingly are forced to deal with political and social disputes among employees. Last week in Yelling v. St. Vincent’s Health System, the Eleventh Circuit Court of...more
We often hear claims from employees who threaten to sue their employer for creating a “hostile work environment.” When we dig into the complaints, often the employee is alleging that their manager is mean or unfair to them,...more
8/25/2023
/ Appeals ,
Burden of Proof ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Race Discrimination ,
Title VII
The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech protects a business from antidiscrimination laws when that company acts in accordance with its owner’s professed beliefs. ...more
Last year, Congress passed the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act (PWFA). The new law is intended to assist pregnant employees with continuing their jobs until, and in some cases, beyond delivery. Patterned in part on the Americans...more
8/11/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Comment Period ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Essential Functions ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy upended long-held assumptions over the legal standard used to review employers’ responses to employees’ requests for religious accommodations under Title VII....more
7/10/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS
In addition to releasing several major decisions, the end of the U.S. Supreme Court’s annual term included the justices agreeing to hear the appeal of a case with important implications for employers. The case involves the...more
On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously clarified the legal test used by courts to determine whether an employer has complied with its obligation under Title VII to respond to an employee’s request for a workplace...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Bostock v. Clayton County decision recognized discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as forms of sex discrimination, essentially incorporating such claims into Title...more
6/23/2023
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Protected Class ,
Religious Exemption ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII
When defining what conduct constitutes a hostile and offensive working environment under Title VII, the U.S. Supreme Court directs lower courts to look at the context of the behavior in the specific workplace at issue....more
Given the wide availability of quality headphones, you may wonder why employers would still allow employees to play music at work that could annoy co-workers. A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reminds...more
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Groff v. DeJoy, a case widely expected to reset the standard courts apply to employers’ obligation to provide religious accommodations to employees under Title VII. The...more
Employers may believe they are aware of potential areas of concern for discrimination or harassment among different groups of employees. Their concerns often focus on race discrimination claims or national origin claims from...more
4/21/2023
/ Bias ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Racial Bias ,
Retaliation ,
Title VI ,
Title VII
As more employers conduct diversity, equity, and inclusion training, they increasingly face resistance from employees who claim that mandatory attendance at such training violates their religious beliefs. Last week, the...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows qualified disabled persons to sue based on interference with their civil rights under that statute. Earlier this month, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) revised COVID-19 Technical Assistance Q&A clarifies how employers should evaluate employee requests for exemptions from mandatory vaccination requirements based on medical...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that federal courts will not serve as a super HR department for employees who complain about unpleasant work conditions. Every worker is expected to tolerate a certain level of obnoxious...more
Prior to the wave of COVID-19 related mandatory vaccination exemption requests, the most common form of religious accommodation sought by employees involved time off for religious observations. Employees commonly advise...more
Over the past decade, a growing number of federal appellate circuits have heard cases asking whether a single use of a racially offensive epithet is enough to clear the bar for a hostile environment racial harassment claim...more
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, or CROWN Act. The bill would add a new protected classification to federal employment and other discrimination...more
The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force has issued a guidance document intended to help implement President Joe Biden’s executive order requiring COVID-19 vaccinations and other measures for all federal workers and U.S....more
10/7/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
New Guidance ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Subcontractors ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In a new opinion from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Maner v. Dignity Health, the plaintiff was a male design engineer who was laid off due to performance and budget cut issues. He alleged that he had been discriminated...more
One of our clients recently received a charge of discrimination filed by a former employee with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The employee, who the employer considered to be African-American, became involved in...more
Under Title VII, employers are liable to an employee for incidents of co-worker harassment when they knew or should have known that the conduct was occurring, yet failed to take reasonable measures to end it. Last week, the...more
In its Oncale decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that same-sex sexual harassment violates Title VII’s sex discrimination prohibition. In that case, the court said that plaintiffs can demonstrate same-sex harassment...more
5/28/2021
/ Appeals ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Harassment ,
PricewaterhouseCoopers ,
Remand ,
Same-Sex Harassment ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Title VII