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Discrimination / Harassment

Why HR must preview all job postings

06/20/2024
Do you check your organization’s job postings for inaccurate, inappropriate or illegal language? If not, you’re opening your organization to legal battles.

Court: Denying transgender-care coverage violates Title VII

06/17/2024
For the first time, a federal appeals court has ruled that an employer that provides health insurance for its employees violates Title VII if it refuses to cover transgender care. That, in the words of the court, violates Title VII’s sex-discrimination provisions because it denies transgender workers the same benefits other employees are entitled to.

Gender identity on the docket: Lawsuit slams EEOC’s anti-harassment guidance

06/17/2024
When the EEOC issued new final enforcement guidance on all forms of harassment in April, the agency included guidance on gender identity, dress codes, bathroom use and pronoun choice. A  group of 18 state attorneys general have filed suit, alleging that the guidance goes too far.

Stamp out gender stereotyping, the workplace curse that can trigger both discrimination and harassment claims

06/13/2024
Your training programs must address the legal perils that arise when managers and supervisors base decisions on prejudiced assumptions about employees who belong to protected classes. Ensure your training also covers how to prevent, identify, stop, report and fix harassment when it is uncovered.

Sexual harassment, bathrooms and pronouns

06/13/2024
Everyone has the right to their own belief structures. However, shrouding a discriminatory belief in a cloak of “religious liberty” to justify one’s actions is dangerous.

Be sure to document the reasonable factors on which you base all hiring decisions

06/13/2024
Courts rarely second-guess hiring decisions as long as they are based on objective, reasonable factors, backed with documentation.

EEOC updates guidance on hostile work environments

05/30/2024
For the five fiscal years ending with FY 2023, more than one-third of the charges of employment discrimination it received included an allegation of unlawful harassment based on race, sex, disability or another protected characteristic.

EEOC damage awards fell dramatically in FY 2023

05/28/2024
Employers paid $22.6 million in monetary damages for violating federal anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws in fiscal year 2023, according to EEOC statistics released in May.

EEOC charges jump for second straight year

05/28/2024
Employees filed 81,055 discrimination and harassment charges in FY 2023, compared to 73,485 the year before and 61,331 in FY 2021, a year in which EEOC activity lagged because of COVID lockdowns.

No, you can’t use high medical costs as an excuse to terminate a sick worker

05/13/2024
A car dealership is out $325,000 and must train managers and supervisors on the ADA and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.