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Employment Law

How discrimination beliefs are driving resistance to DEI initiatives

06/23/2025
When conversations around workplace equity stall or spark conflict, it’s often not because someone is unwilling to engage, but because people are starting from entirely different premises. A new Pew Research Center report highlights how vastly Americans’ perceptions of discrimination differ across political, demographic and social lines.

Why EEOC’s refusal to pay state discrimination agencies means more lawsuits

06/17/2025
Recently, the EEOC indicated that it will no longer pay state anti-discrimination agencies for work they do on complaints involving gender identity discrimination or claims of disparate impact before they’re sent to the EEOC.

For workers, strikes look like the answer

06/12/2025
With this year marked by economic uncertainty, some employers have chosen to offer smaller pay increases. That may lead to dissatisfaction among workers still contending with the effects of inflation and rising costs.

Downsizing DEI? RIFs may backfire

06/12/2025
It may be tempting to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies entirely. But before you do so, consider the potential unintended consequences, especially if you lay off everyone you hired to run the programs. Those sidelined employees who were supposed to help you create a diverse workplace may sue you.

Why employers must move fast during accommodation process

06/12/2025
The ADA doesn’t set a time limit for the interactive accommodations process, but assumes everybody will act in good faith. So when the process takes too long, the employee can sue, alleging failure to accommodate. She doesn’t have to lose her job, pay or benefits to do so.

Teen harassment? Avoid a PR nightmare

06/12/2025
Teens can ask a question and get an instant (sometimes inaccurate) answer. Couple that with government websites designed to provide teens with accurate information about their rights, and you have a recipe for a PR nightmare.

Proposed legislation seeks to level the playing field for age-bias claims

06/09/2025
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to change the legal standards older employees must meet to bring forward age-discrimination claims.

Late paperwork subject to reasonable accommodation

06/09/2025
Generally, when an employee doesn’t return medical certification paperwork required to begin FMLA leave within 15 days, employers can deny the leave request. But there are circumstances under which the employee may have more time.

Disparate-impact discrimination about-face doesn’t mean it’s gone

06/09/2025
Disparate-impact discrimination is a legal theory that holds that an entity may be discriminating unlawfully even though it has neutral rules if those rules have a disparate impact on a protected class. It is unintentional discrimination.

EEOC claims employers don’t need to follow their guidance

06/09/2025
According to the EEOC, agency guidance does not have the force of law.