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Discrimination / Harassment

Who needs a drink? The EEOC is devout about religious accommodations

11/22/2022
With the holiday season fast approaching, be alert to religious accommodation requests.

Identical interview questions key to surviving rejected applicant’s suit

11/22/2022
The hiring process is a common lawsuit trigger for candidates not selected for the job they’re interviewing for. Lawsuits alleging race or other forms of discrimination may focus on individual questions, the hiring committee’s demographic composition or some other perceived discriminatory action. The best way to counter this is with a carefully crafted interview process.

Netflix beats harassment claims—for now

11/22/2022
A California judge dismissed allegations of harassment and emotional distress against a supervisor at Netflix. The plaintiff, a former business and legal affairs director at the streaming service, sued for race and gender discrimination and wrongful termination, alleging a supervisor failed to stop a male subordinate’s racist and misogynistic comments.

EEOC commissioner targets abortion travel benefits

11/22/2022
An EEOC commissioner launched probes of companies offering abortion travel subsidies to employees. The commissioner alleges discrimination against pregnant workers who are not offered equivalent benefits.

Bill voids NDAs in sexual harassment cases

11/22/2022
The Speak Out Act voids any nondisclosure agreements in sexual assault or harassment cases. The bill passed Nov. 16 in the House, and the Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent in September.

Sexual harassment and retaliation at funeral home

11/17/2022
A mortuary will pay $135,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit. The EEOC sued on behalf of female employees who alleged the owner made crude sexual comments.

“No facial hair, no exceptions” causes EEOC to sue

11/17/2022
A company with a “no facial hair” policy violated Title VII when it hired an EMT who could not shave his beard due to his religious beliefs and fired him when he refused to shave, alleges an EEOC lawsuit.

Conduct a self-audit before finalizing terminations

11/17/2022
There’s a compelling reason to conduct a routine HR office review of all employment decisions before they’re finalized. That way, your HR professionals can do their jobs and confirm that the decision is based on objective information and business necessity.

Housekeeper for Bezos sues, alleges racial discrimination

11/17/2022
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has been sued close to home. His former housekeeper, who is Hispanic, accuses him and two of his investment firms of racial discrimination.

Two new lawsuits on an ancient form of discrimination: caste

11/15/2022
Recently, several advocacy groups have urged the EEOC to expand its protection under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act based on a unique form of discrimination involving membership or assignment to a caste system. At the same time, two lawsuits are testing whether Title VII’s religious or national origin discrimination provisions can provide a remedy for caste discrimination victims.