• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Discrimination / Harassment

Beware rescinding religious accommodation! You will probably have to explain why in court

06/07/2017
Employers should carefully document the process by which they deny or approve a religious accommodation. In particular, granting a request and then deciding to revoke it later may make it more difficult to defend in court.

Lawsuit: Flight attendants harassed for union roles

06/07/2017
An American Airlines flight attendant based in Philadelphia and a colleague from North Carolina are suing, claiming the airline failed to police online forums and Facebook pages it controls, permitting other employees to harass the women for their union activities.

Palo Alto firm pays big to settle discrimination charges

06/06/2017
Palantir Technologies in Palo Alto has agreed to settle charges it discriminated against Asian applicants who sought engineering positions at the tech firm.

Boss is equally demanding on everyone? That’s no excuse for employee lawsuit

06/06/2017
Some supervisors are more demanding than others. That’s no reason to sue, as long as the boss heaps demands equally on everyone, regardless of protected characteristics.

9th Circuit: Equal Pay Act allows past pay as excuse for current pay differences

06/06/2017
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has concluded that employers are free to use past pay as the starting point for a compensation offer as long as they can justify the practice as having a legitimate business purpose. That’s true even if using past pay ends up perpetuating past pay discrimination.

$1.9 million to settle EEOC race bias lawsuit against Chicago restaurants

06/06/2017
The owners of 13 Italian restaurants in Chicago have agreed to pay $1.9 million to settle an EEOC class-action suit alleging they routinely refused to hire black job applicants.

Research: Gender wage gap established early in careers

06/02/2017
The wage gap between men and women is established early in workers’ careers and increases “considerably” in the first 20 years of their working lives, according to new research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Transgender employee rights case advances

05/30/2017
A  Pennsylvania woman is suing her former employer claiming she was discriminated against because of her transgender status. The case is making news not just because it involves transgender rights, but because of the unique legal arguments it raises.

Never, ever say a word about applicant’s age

05/24/2017
You may see more older workers seeking open positions in your organization. How you treat those applicants can mean the difference between winning or losing an age discrimination lawsuit.

$1 damage award in University of Minnesota harassment case

05/17/2017
A federal jury has awarded just $1 in damages to a former University of Minnesota doctoral student in a two-year-old case that alleged a professor had sexually harassed her on a research trip to Alaska.