News & Analysis as of

Race Discrimination Harassment Corporate Counsel

Husch Blackwell LLP

Executive Agencies Confirm Demise of OFCCP and Identify Private Sector Enforcement Targets

Husch Blackwell LLP on

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Labor released their 2026 Congressional Budget Justifications (CBJ) on May 30, 2025, providing valuable information related to the EEOC’s enforcement...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

One Use of the “N-word” Lands an Employer in a Jury Trial – Lessons to Learn

Fox Rothschild LLP on

One instance of a coworker directing the “N-word” to a Black employee can rise to the level of being so severe as to make for a racially hostile work environment in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

California Supreme Court Affirms Single Comment Can Constitute Harassment and Addresses Standard for Retaliation

Foley & Lardner LLP on

In a July 29, 2024, opinion, the California Supreme Court reaffirmed that a single use of a racial epithet can be severe enough to be actionable harassment under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)....more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb: May Appellate Roundup

Littler on

This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment law developments in the federal courts of appeal in the last month. Seventh Circuit Finds EEOC Failed to Prove Racial Harassment in Multi-Employee...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Claims of Hostile Work Environment Happened Over Too Long a Period, Court Rules

Last week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims from a university professor that she had been subjected to a series of retaliatory acts in the two- and one-half year period following her filing an Equal...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Recognizes 'Equal Opportunity Harasser' Defense

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

Proskauer - California Employment Law

$137 Million Racial Harassment Verdict Against Tesla Slashed by New Jury!

An astronomical $137 million jury verdict against Tesla has again been reduced, for a second (and potentially final) time. Last Monday, following a five-day trial on damages, a federal court jury awarded Owen Diaz, a former...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Racial Slur From Owner's Six-Year-Old Son is Evidence of Offensive Working Environment

​​​​​​​Over the past decade, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) has substantially lowered the bar for demonstrating racial harassment in cases where a racial...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fifth Circuit Agrees That One Use of the "N-Word" Can Create a Racially Hostile Work Environment

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

Poyner Spruill LLP

EEOC Announces Two Recent Settlements of Title VII Race Lawsuits

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced two high-profile settlements of race claims – one for discrimination and one for harassment – that highlight the dangers of employers failing to protect...more

Maynard Nexsen

$137 Million Verdict Illustrates Importance of Competent Anti-Harassment Policies

Maynard Nexsen on

On October 4, 2021, a North California federal jury awarded a former Tesla subcontractor $137 million after finding that he had been subjected to a hostile work environment and that Tesla was responsible for the harm it...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

A Cautionary Tale About Same Race Discrimination

Fox Rothschild LLP on

A Black employee complains to Human Resources that her supervisor has directed racial slurs at her. The supervisor is Black too. Is this a defense to liability for the employer under Title VII? Hardly. The Eighth Circuit...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

A Look Behind The EEOC Curtain: Enforcement Statistics Show Fewer Charges Filed In 2019, But Monetary Recoveries Ticked Up In Some...

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Seyfarth Synopsis: The EEOC recently released its enforcement and litigation statistics for Fiscal Year 2019. Notably, the statistics indicate that 2019 saw the lowest number of charges filed in over 20 years, though there...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Seventh Circuit Says One Use of "N-Word" Insufficient for Racial Harassment Claim

In recent years, a number of federal appellant courts, including the Fourth Circuit, have issued opinions finding that a single use of a racial slur can be enough to constitute a hostile and offensive working environment...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Once Is Enough: Tennessee Federal Court Rules Single Use of ‘N-Word’ By Co-Worker Sufficient to Get Hostile Work Environment Claim...

Usually, once is not enough, at least in the hostile work environment context. Unless, as the court found in Ronnie L. Outlaw v. SBH Services, Inc., it is. Typically, a single incident of harassment – especially by a...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Fiscal Year 2017 EEOC Statistics are Here (and So Is Retaliation!)

Last week the EEOC released its annual report breaking down charges received during the fiscal year. In fiscal year 2017, the agency received 84,254 charges and took in $398 million between voluntary resolutions and...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Workers’ Compensation Ruling Given Preclusive Effect In Discrimination Lawsuit

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: In Ly v. County of Fresno, the Court of Appeal held that correctional officers’ claims for race, ethnicity, and national origin discrimination were barred because the claims had been previously denied in...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

8th Circuit Panel Rules NLRA Protects Picketing Employee’s Racist Remarks

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC on

In an article published earlier this year, I asked the question whether the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects racist insults. In a decision rendered on August 8, 2017, a majority of an Eighth Circuit panel, over a...more

Littler

EEOC's Race Discrimination Suit Against Janitorial Company Includes Background Check Allegations

Littler on

The filing of a new discrimination lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) answers the question whether, after five years of intensive scrutiny, employers can breathe a sigh of relief in terms of...more

Littler

Annual Report on EEOC Developments – Fiscal Year 2016

Littler on

This Annual Report on EEOC Developments—Fiscal Year 2016 (hereafter “Report”), our sixth annual Report, is designed as a comprehensive guide to significant EEOC developments over the past fiscal year. The Report does not...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

New Jersey Supreme Court “Plants the Seeds” for Increase in “Garden Variety” Emotional Distress Jury Awards

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: The New Jersey employers were dealt an “emotional” blow when the New Jersey Supreme Court, in Cuevas v. Wentworth Group, affirmed a trial court’s denial of an employer’s request for remittitur of the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Absent Express Contract, Arbitrator, Not Court, Rules On Class Arbitrability

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court, in Sandquist v. Lebo Automotive, deviated from rulings of most federal circuit courts to hold that the question of “who decides” whether class arbitration is available—courts...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Alleged Harassers' Intent Irrelevant to Hostile Environment Determination

Employers investigating allegations of workplace harassment sometimes receive explanations from the accused parties that they never meant to cause distress to the complaining employee. They justify their behavior as joking or...more

Mintz - Employment, Labor & Benefits...

Federal Court Says Employer Can Be Liable for Acts of Anonymous Harasser

As a major national company learned recently, employers cannot shirk their obligations to investigate employee complaints of a hostile work environment simply because the identity of the harasser is unknown. Failure to...more

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