Divine intervention?
John Kluge, a high school orchestra teacher in the Indianapolis area, was let go in 2018 after he refused to address transgender students by their preferred names and pronouns.
Mr. Kluge, a Christian...more
8/8/2025
/ Appellate Courts ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Gender Identity ,
Good Faith ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Jury Trial ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
School Districts ,
SCOTUS ,
Title IX ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Undue Hardship
Hindsight is 20-20.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which took effect in June 2023, requires reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and “related medical conditions.” The statute gave authority to the U.S....more
8/1/2025
/ Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Wage and Hour
"Some harm" is all it takes.
A federal appeals court found this week that requiring an employee to enter an Employee Assistance Program may be an “adverse employment action” under the federal anti-discrimination laws....more
7/25/2025
/ Adverse Action ,
Adverse Employment Action ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Assistance Programs ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Termination
Accommodate, accommodate, accommodate!
I started practicing law two years before Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), and four years before it took effect (1992 for larger employers, 1994 for smaller...more
7/18/2025
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Documentation ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Forced Leave of Absences ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP Act”) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Wage and Hour
"Reverse discrimination," ADA, religion, and nationwide injunctions. The 2024-25 term of the U.S. Supreme Court is over. Two decisions at the end of the term directly addressed employment law issues, and two others will have...more
7/3/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Ames v Ohio Department of Youth Services ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Health Insurance ,
Injunctions ,
LGBTQ ,
Mahmoud v Taylor ,
Parental Rights ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Public Schools ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Stanley v City of Sanford Florida ,
Title VII ,
Trump v CASA
In 2022, a company’s Chief Technical Officer started making internal complaints about alleged sex discrimination and retaliation at his place of employment and advocating for some female executives who were allegedly not...more
6/27/2025
/ CEOs ,
Defamation ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Popular ,
Retaliation ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
Happy Father's Day weekend, y'all!
How much do you know about dads in the workplace in our modern era? Take our quiz and find out!
Since today is Friday the 13th, I’m going to make this quiz a hard one. But, as always, the...more
6/13/2025
/ Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Paid Leave ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sex Discrimination
Don't expect the EEOC to appeal.
In April 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The Enforcement Guidance addressed, among other things, harassment...more
5/23/2025
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration ,
Trump v Wilcox
Dad-of-seven will go to jury on religious discrimination.
This sounds like the kind of thing that might happen to a woman, but this time it (allegedly) happened to a man.
A devout Catholic man (we'll call him "Dad") was...more
TL;DR: Some big changes.
On Tuesday, the Trump Administration nominated Brittany Bull Panuccio to the spot on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that has been vacant since Keith Sonderling’s term expired last...more
5/9/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Gender Identity ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Quorum ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title IX ,
Trump Administration
Is the media buzz accurate?
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump issued a new executive order, "Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy." The buzz is that the President has wiped out disparate impact...more
At least one court says yes.
True confession: When I was a little future lawyer, I was sometimes a pain. (So, Robin, you’re saying your personality hasn't changed in all these years?) When I was being especially “high...more
4/17/2025
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employees ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Performance Reviews ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Tenure ,
Title VII ,
Universities
Then again, you might.
Jocelyn Samuels was initially appointed to be a Commissioner on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by President Trump, and then she was reappointed by President Biden. Not long after...more
From the feds. This week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice issued technical assistance materials on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, including one document titled...more
3/21/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Harassment ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
And you thought they’d be asleep the next four years. This week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a press release indicating that the EEOC would be cracking down on antisemitism in the workplace, with...more
I reported a few weeks ago that President Trump fired two Democratic Commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (former Chair Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels). He appointed Commissioner Andrea Lucas...more
2/21/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
LGBTQ ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Trump Administration
Whoa, Nelly! It's a stampede!
After President Trump took office on Monday, he lost no time in undoing as much as he could from not only the Biden Administration, but also going all the way back to the days of President...more
1/24/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Citizenship ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Donald Trump ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Reverse Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
Employer going to trial in age discrimination case. We had a blizzard last Friday (in North Carolina, 2 inches is a blizzard), and we still have ice and snow on the ground a week later.
Anyway, I've had enough of winter now...more
1/22/2025
/ Age Discrimination ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Documentation ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Performance Reviews ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination
Warning -- I'm about to go on a rant. Do you ever read something in the news that just makes you go, "Sheesh, people!!!" Or words to that effect? And, no, I am not talking about the Presidential Election.
The Wall Street...more
Learn from a real employer's mistakes. Imagine this scenario: You are advertising for an open position. You get three applicants:
•Applicant 1 meets or exceeds all of your requirements.
•Applicant 2 fails to meet your...more
You won't want to miss this!!! You all probably read respectable news sources. I subscribe to a number of "sober" mainstream publications, but have a sick attraction to the Daily Mail and the New York Post....more
12/8/2023
/ Age Discrimination ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Performance Reviews ,
Performance Standards ,
Protected Class ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Termination ,
Wage and Hour
These six will get the EEOC's attention in 2024-28.
Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released its Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2024-28. Strategic Enforcement Plans provide a helpful preview of...more
9/29/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bias ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
Pregnancy ,
Retaliation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Vulnerable Victims
Inconsistencies were fatal to this employer.
It's a well-established principle in discrimination law that an employer can be done in by "shifting explanations" for actions taken against an applicant or employee.
A recent...more
The impact on most employers should be minimal.
As you've probably heard, President Biden has recently signed into law two measures that could affect employers: The Speak Out Act, and the Respect for Marriage Act....more
12/16/2022
/ Employment Discrimination ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joe Biden ,
Marriage ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Obergefell v. Hodges ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Trade Secrets
Comments being accepted thru Dec. 5.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued a draft Strategic Plan for 2022-26, and is inviting public comments through Monday, December 5....more