Last week the EEOC held a public meeting on “Steps to Transform Workplace Culture to Prevent Harassment.” The consensus was that employers best accomplish this through a “holistic approach.” Those are fancy words. But what precisely can you do to address harassment?…
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Don’t Wait For a Lawsuit to Close Your Pay Gaps
The era of employers avoiding public consequences for disparate treatment of women and minorities in the workplace is over. Employers that neglect internal issues on gender face severe legal and reputational risk in the age of #MeToo and Time’s Up….
EEOC Says Harassment Charges and Litigation Increased Dramatically In FY 2018
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s litigation program brought 66 lawsuits alleging workplace harassment (41 alleging sexual harassment) in fiscal year 2018 (which ended Sept. 30, 2018), a more than 50% increase over the prior year, Acting Chair Victoria A….
Court Says It Could be Retaliatory to Fire An HR Manager For This Advice
A company admitted it fired an HR representative for encouraging another employee to file with the EEOC. Last week, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued this opinion, which, in essence said, sometimes that can be retaliatory, and sent the case…
These Lawyers Must Have Skipped the Class on Employment Discrimination
I don’t know how else to describe it. So, I’m going to quote from the EEOC’s press release, but I’ll conceal the name of the law firm, the law firm that paid $30,000 to settle with the EEOC: The [] Law Firm has…
ACLU Charges Facebook, 10 Employers With Men Only Targeting
One of the most powerful marketing features of sites like Facebook is the ability to target messages to specific groups. If you’re selling roofing and remodeling services in Silver Spring, Maryland, it makes sense to target your ads to homeowners…
A Look Ahead at the Legal and Market Forces Affecting Employment
Almost two years into the new presidential administration, and with highly consequential and hotly debated mid-term elections around the corner, Littler’s Workforce Policy Institute’s Labor Day Report examines the state of the American workforce. The WPI offers this report to…
HR Worried A Dyslexic Would Fail, So She Was Fired
Do you know that proverb “no good deed goes unpunished”? This isn’t that situation. “There was no point in continuing the training.” Last week, the EEOC announced that it was suing an employer for disability discrimination after it fired an…
What You Need to Watch For In Continuous Background Screening
Most companies perform background checks on employees at the outset as part of the application / new hire process. A number of background check companies are now offering “continuous screening” or re-screening services as a risk management tool where background…
Four EEOC-Approved Ways Your Company Can Prevent Age Discrimination at Work
Ayo, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission just released a report on “The State of Age Discrimination and Older Workers in the U.S. 50 Years After the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).” According to the EEOC press release, “[t]he report finds that age…
Reconvening Its Task Force and Filing 7 Suits, EEOC Signals Sex Harassment Still a Top Priority.
The EEOC sent a powerful signal last week that sexual harassment was still squarely on its radar filing 7 lawsuits against employers across the nation while reconvening its Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace. “As…
Taking Legal Drugs to Fight Addiction Is Covered by the ADA
Folks, I’m warning you, this is a tough one. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employer must provide a reasonable accommodation (if available) to a qualified individual with a disability upon request if doing so will enable that person to…
The Gender Pay Gap Is Also an Opportunity Gap
The current business climate has created a new focus, and even spurred new laws aimed at achieving equal pay, but not enough progress has been made. PayScale’s new research found that the gender pay gap still persists into 2018. Looking…
What You Need to Know About Massachusetts’ Updated Pay Equity Law
Back in 1945, Massachusetts became the first state in the country to pass an equal pay law. But despite its efforts, the gender pay gap unfortunately persisted. According to Mass.gov, women working full time in Massachusetts earn, on average, about…
EEO-1 Survey Deadline Extended to June 1
The EEOC is extending the filing deadline for the 2017 EEO-1 survey until June 1. Although the majority of employers met the original March 31 deadline, so many employers requested last minute technical assistance with the electronic filing that the…
Appeals Court Says Prior Salary Doesn’t Justify Pay Differences
Just in time for Equal Pay Day, a federal appeals court today ruled today that an employee’s salary history alone is insufficient to justify pay differences between male and female employees. “Reliance on past wages simply perpetuates the past pervasive…
‘Ground-Breaking’ Ruling Says Transgender Discrimination Is Covered by Title VII
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently ruled, in what many have described as a ground-breaking decision, that discrimination based on an employee’s transgender status is discrimination based on “sex” in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights…
What You Need to Do to Prevent Sexual Harassment In the #MeToo Era
In December, TIME Magazine’s “Person of the Year” was “The Silence Breakers.” These were the “women (who) have had it with bosses and coworkers who not only cross boundaries but don’t even seem to know that boundaries exist … These…
Avoid EEOC Trouble By Smart Hiring, Sound Procedures and Soft Skills
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) resolved 99,109 employment discrimination claims in fiscal year 2017, resulting in $398 million in compensation paid to claimants. Of the claims resolved, 47% were for retaliation by an employer against a complaining employee. These…
EEOC Sues to Protect Recovering Addict
As the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s fiscal year was coming to a close, the agency filed a slew of discrimination lawsuits. One that caught my eye involves an employer that allegedly rescinded an offer of employment once it found out the…