News & Analysis as of

Hostile Environment

Fisher Phillips

Appeals Court Limits Title VII Liability for Non-Employee Conduct: Key Takeaways for Employers

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Can an employer be held liable for workplace harassment committed by a non-employee? The short answer is “sometimes” – but a federal appeals court just significantly narrowed this liability risk for employers in Kentucky,...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Betty, la fea y otras formas de acoso laboral

Holland & Knight LLP on

En este episodio de "A Lo Legal En Par Minutos", el socio Edwin Cortés conversa con Juan Pablo Colom, abogado del área laboral, sobre el acoso laboral, tomando como referencia cultural la popular telenovela colombiana "Betty...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Workplace fraternization policies: Four "whos" and a "why"

An intimate look. No-fraternization policies generally prohibit employees with certain family or personal relationships from being in a direct or indirect reporting relationship. Let’s say Mel is VP of Sales. His...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

DOJ guidance on unlawful discrimination: Implications for DEI practices in the private sector

On July 29, 2025, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, issued a new guidance memorandum that clarifies what the DOJ considers to be “unlawful discriminatory policies and practices” under...more

Saul Ewing LLP

Sixth Circuit Imposes Heightened Standard in Non-Employee Sexual Harassment Cases

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Recently, in a case titled Bivens v. Zep, Inc., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an employer will only be liable for a customer's harassment of an employee when the employer intends for such harassment to occur....more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Sixth Circuit Departs from EEOC and Other Circuits on Employer Liability Standard for Third-Party Harassment

On August 8, 2025, a Sixth Circuit panel in Bivens v. Zep, Inc. held that an employer can only be found liable under Title VII for harassment by a third party if the employer intended for the harassment to occur. This...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

When is an employer liable for harassment by customers? You may be relieved.

When is an employer legally responsible for harassment of its employee by one of its customers? A recent court decision may be a relief for employers in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. Most courts ruling on the...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

If You See Something, Do You Fix It If It Isn’t Your Employee? 6th Circuit Applies Higher Standard to Non-Employee Harassment Case

An employee tells you a customer just harassed them — what should you do? In Bivens v. Zep, Inc. the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals charts its own course in addressing employer liability for third-party harassment. The Equal...more

Littler

Sixth Circuit Limits Employer Liability for Harassment by Nonemployees

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On August 8, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled an employer is not liable for harassment of an employee by a third party unless the employer intended for the harassment to occur. This stark departure...more

Dickinson Wright

Sixth Circuit Raises Bar for Employer Liability for Customer Harassment of Employees

Dickinson Wright on

In Bivens v. ZEP, Inc., the Sixth Circuit held that an employer is not liable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title VII), for harassment by a customer unless the employer intended the harassment...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Employer skirts constructive discharge claim

Some good lessons here. I assume our readers all know what a “constructive discharge” is, but just in case you don’t, it’s when an employer deliberately makes the employee’s life at work so miserable that the employee feels...more

FordHarrison

Sixth Circuit Requires Proof of Intent for Employers to be Liable for Harassment by a Nonemployee

FordHarrison on

On August 8, 2025, in Bivens v. Zep, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that employer liability for nonemployee harassment requires proof of the employer’s intent, a departure from the...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Training Artificial Intelligence and Employer Liability: Lessons from Schuster v. Scale AI

Epstein Becker & Green on

The discussion of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in the workplace typically focuses on whether the AI tool and model has a discriminatory impact. This means examining whether the AI output creates an unlawful disparate...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

DOJ Issues Sweeping Guidance on "Illegal DEI": Key Legal Risks and Compliance Priorities for Federal Funds Recipients

Husch Blackwell LLP on

On July 29, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued updated guidance setting forth the administration’s position on how federal antidiscrimination laws—including Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and...more

BakerHostetler

Trump Administration Releases New Guidance on Unlawful DEI

BakerHostetler on

On July 30, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a new memorandum from Attorney General Pam Bondi that provides further guidance on what DEI practices the Trump Administration considers unlawful discrimination. ...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Doing Nothing in Response to a Report of Sexual Harassment Could Cost You Millions – the LAPD Recently Learned the Hard Way

If an employee complains about a sexually suggestive picture circulating in the workplace that looks like her but is not, is that a hostile work environment complaint? It might be. In Lillian Carranza v. City of Los Angeles,...more

Whiteford

Employment Law Update: Federal Judge Rules Attorney Was Fired for Legitimate Workplace Behavior Concerns, not Due to Alleged...

Whiteford on

A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington highlights the importance of clear, documented reasons for employee terminations. In Kang v. The Boeing Company, a case involving a former...more

Proskauer - California Employment Law

Employee’s Indirect Exposure To Harassing Conduct Supported $4 Million Verdict

Carranza v. City of Los Angeles, 111 Cal. App. 5th 388 (2025) - Lilian Carranza, an LAPD captain, learned that a photo of a topless woman who looked like but was not Carranza was circulating electronically among LAPD...more

Gould + Ratner LLP

Coldplay Gate: What if It Happened at Your Company?

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The internet lit up recently with viral footage from a “kiss cam” at a Coldplay concert in Boston, Massachusetts. The clip, now dubbed by some as “Coldplay Gate,” depicts the married CEO of Astronomer, Inc., having an...more

Fisher Phillips

Maine’s Highest Court Narrows Scope of Continuing Violation Doctrine in Discrimination Claims

Fisher Phillips on

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court just handed employers a win by narrowing the application of the “continuing violation” doctrine in discrimination claims under the state’s primary anti-bias law. This doctrine permits...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

Failure to Address Harassment Supports Discrimination Claims

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

Jane Doe v. Riverside Sch. Dist., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231380 (M.D. Pa., Dec. 23, 2024).  After a classmate was convicted for sexual assault of a student outside of school, the student’s family alleged the School District...more

Robinson Bradshaw

EEOC Guidance Partially Vacated: What’s an Employer to Do?

Robinson Bradshaw on

Savvy employers read and implemented the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. Now, portions of that Guidance relating to LGBTQ+ employee rights are defunct....more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

What Do Recent DEI Training-Focused Federal Agency Guidance and Court Decisions Mean for Employers?

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

Two new technical-assistance documents jointly released by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) warn that common diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-training practices —...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Cal/Osha’s Proposed Revisions to Its Draft Workplace Violence Prevention Regulation

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

On May 13, 2025, Cal/OSHA released a new discussion draft of its proposed regulation on Workplace Violence Prevention in General Industry. This latest version updates the July 15, 2024 draft we previously blogged about, and...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Managing cross border sexual harassment investigations in Australia and Asia––10 key considerations for employers (Part 2)

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In Part 2 of our series, we’ll look at who forms part of an investigation team, how location affects which laws apply to an investigation, notification and timing requirements. (Part 1 covers the definition of ‘workplace’...more

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