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Discrimination / Harassment

Biden signs bill banning forced arbitration of harassment claims

03/08/2022
The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 is now the law of the land. The bill, which took effect immediately when President Biden signed it March 3, makes it illegal to require employees to arbitrate sexual harassment claims.

Beware pay cuts that disadvantage minorities

03/03/2022
Many employees who began working remotely two years ago decided to relocate to areas with low costs of living.  Some employers responded by cutting relocated workers’ pay—not always a popular practice, but somewhat defensible. But that calculus could trigger legal trouble, potentially affecting some protected classes of employees more than others.

Avoid stereotypes when evaluating employees

02/24/2022
Before criticizing or disciplining an employee for some qualitative shortcoming—such as being uncooperative, argumentative or overly aggressive—consider whether you would apply the same standard to someone belonging to a different protected class. Using stereotypes to define expectations is a recipe for legal disaster.

Dangerous succession plan: Make ‘dinobabies’ go ‘extinct’

02/24/2022
Documents filed in support of an age-discrimination lawsuit against IBM reveal that high-level Big Blue executives called older workers “dinobabies” who needed to get out of the way so younger employees could advance.

Pregnancy accommodation could become law

02/17/2022
It’s been several years since significant worker-protection legislation has been enacted. That could be about to change. The Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act is gaining support from Democrats and Republicans alike.

Check hiring records for signs of hidden bias

02/17/2022
It’s hard to know exactly what’s going on down on the retail, warehouse or factory floor when you’re not there. However, you must find out. Hiring managers may be ignoring HR rules in ways that could trigger employment lawsuits.

No more forced arbitration of harassment claims

02/15/2022
If you ask employees to sign agreements requiring arbitration of work-related disputes or claims, call a meeting with your attorney right away. Congress just passed and President Biden is expected to sign legislation that prohibits employers from requiring arbitration of sexual harassment claims.

Train bosses: No gender stereotypes at work

02/03/2022
In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins that work rules based on stereotypes of how a woman should look and behave at work amounted to sex discrimination under Title VII. In 2020, the court expanded that protection to include stereotypes related to sexual orientation and transgender status.

Beware liability from ‘equal opportunity harasser’

01/27/2022
Because unlawful harassment must be aimed at a person who belongs to a protected class—based on race or sex, for example—“equal opportunity harassers” may be able to target all kinds of people without creating liability for their employers. But that may be about to change, thanks to a just-filed EEOC lawsuit.

Train bosses to avoid disability bias in hiring

01/27/2022
The EEOC, which enforces many of the nation’s anti-discrimination laws, is aggressively going after employers that put roadblocks in the way of hiring disabled people. Stay ahead of the feds by ensuring hiring managers know how the law protects disabled applicants.