In recent years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has attempted to expand the definition of race under Title VII. The agency takes the position that race includes cultural characteristics and individual expressions...more
On September 2, 2016, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (which sits in the Fourth Circuit, along with North Carolina and South Carolina) held that the EEOC can move forward in its case against a...more
Last month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a final enforcement guidance on retaliation claims under the various federal civil rights laws administered by the agency. The guidance will replace...more
On July 29, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals handed the EEOC a major setback, concluding that Title VII does not protect employees against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. In Hively v. Ivy Tech...more
As previously reported in EmployNews, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has recently taken the administrative and litigation position that the sex discrimination provisions of Title VII directly prohibit...more
On July 14, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced changes to its proposed employer pay data collection proposal. The proposal would require employers to submit on an annual basis summary pay information for...more
In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued an Enforcement Guidance stating when employers’ use of criminal background checks to exclude applicants from jobs violates Title VII. The Guidance states the EEOC’s...more
7/13/2016
/ Appeals ,
Attorney General ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Disparate Impact ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Felons ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Justiciable Controversy ,
Remand ,
Standing ,
Title VII
Title VII allows federal courts to award attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party in discrimination suits. While plaintiffs typically receive their fees if they win a discrimination or retaliation claim, defendants can also...more
Most hostile environment harassment claims brought under Title VII involve allegations of offensive conduct by the plaintiff’s supervisors or co-workers. In a few situations, the employee alleges that his or her subordinates...more
Title VII and related federal civil rights laws contain short administrative claims periods that often result in preclusion of actions filed after expiration of these dates. These exclusions lead to frequent litigation...more
5/31/2016
/ Constructive Discharge ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Green v Brennan ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Race Discrimination ,
Resignation ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Title VII ,
USPS
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued final regulations on May 18, 2016 that place limits on financial incentives used in certain employer-sponsored wellness programs. The two rules issued under the ADA and GINA,...more
The Supreme Court’s 2006 Burlington Northern decision concluded that employers engage in retaliation against protected employees when they take action that would deter a reasonable person from filing an EEOC charge or...more
5/17/2016
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Burlington Northern ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Harassment ,
Remand ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Title VII
As transgender bathroom access legislation continues to generate controversy across the U.S., the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a new Fact Sheet unequivocally stating its position with regard to restroom use...more
The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, commonly known as HB2, continues to generate controversy and confusion. The new law has caused many employers to reexamine their policies with regard to restroom use by employees...more
In 2009’s Crawford decision, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that an employee who participates in an employer’s harassment or discrimination investigation as a third-party witness, falls within federal anti-retaliation...more
Since the Americans with Disabilities Act was adopted, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has considered morbid obesity to fall within the definition of a protected disability. Earlier this month, the Eighth Circuit...more
The Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act significantly broadened the definition of protected disabled individuals under federal antidiscrimination law. In subsequent rules implementing ADAAA, the Equal Employment...more
4/13/2016
/ ADAAA ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Essential Functions ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Mercedes-Benz ,
Over-Time ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Young v United Parcel Service
Before filing suit alleging discrimination, Title VII requires plaintiffs to file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. If the plaintiff files an EEOC charge, but includes claims in his...more
In last year’s Mach Mining decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is required to attempt to settle (“conciliate”) discrimination claims before bringing suit against...more
In recent months, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has stated its position that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or...more
Most employers would assume that a traveling salesperson who could no longer drive due to a medical condition cannot perform the essential functions of her job. The Americans with Disabilities Act only requires accommodations...more
Over the past several years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued several employers, claiming that their failure to explicitly advise employees that releases provided in conjunction with severance benefits...more
Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released final statistics on charges of discrimination filed during the most recent fiscal year. The total charges rose slightly over 2014, but remained well...more
In recent years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and federal courts across the U.S. have increasingly agreed that discrimination against transgendered employees is a form of sex discrimination under Title VII....more
The Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) prohibits employers from asking employees questions about their family medical histories in most circumstances. However, doctors’ medical questionnaires have for decades...more