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Employment Law

Don’t use citizenship as a hiring factor

12/20/2022
Most employers know they can’t take protected characteristics like age or disability into consideration. But some hiring managers may think it’s fine to bypass an applicant with a precarious legal immigration status in favor of a U.S. citizen based on the belief that citizens won’t lose the legal right to work. They are wrong.

Pre-employment pregnancy test? Don’t think about it

12/15/2022
If it looks illegal and smells illegal, then it’s illegal.

Title VII violated when Ford refused to hire pregnant woman who passed physical exam

12/15/2022
The Ford Motor Company must pay $115,000 to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit.

What is a reasonable accommodation in hiring? A new guide explains

12/15/2022
Requests for accommodations under the ADA can be daunting. A new paper, entitled “Employers’ Practical Guide: Reasonable Accommodation During the Hiring Process,” discusses the most frequent situations employers face when handling accommodation requests from applicants with disabilities.

New York state will bar retaliation against workers who take legally protected time off

12/15/2022
The law appears to focus on “points-based” attendance, in which employers impose points, or demerits, on employees for absences, often without regard for the reason for the absence—including medical reasons, which can be protected under the FMLA and other laws.

Federal court sends EEOC’s LGBTQ guidance back to drawing board

12/15/2022
The Supreme Court rules—and then what happens? You must implement the ruling ASAP. In time, the EEOC may issue guidance on how to do just that. In this case, the EEOC’s guidance went too far. Texas challenged the guidance.

Promoting or hiring? Be sure to document why your choice is best

12/15/2022
Whenever you’re hiring or promoting from within and choosing from several candidates, someone is going to be disappointed. And that means there’s the potential for legal trouble if you don’t make sure your process was lawsuit-proof.

Religious accommodations and how to implement them

12/15/2022
Employers have a legal obligation to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of their employees. Employers want to get it right but navigating religious accommodations can be tricky. Here is some practical information to help employers better understand their general obligations.

Court calls working beyond pay grade intolerable

12/15/2022
Generally, workers must be turned down for a job, demoted or fired before they can sue their employers and allege discrimination as the reason. But as with many things in life, there’s an exception—the concept of constructive discharge holds that if an employer makes the employee’s work life “intolerable,” that justifies quitting. The worker can then sue despite not having been fired.

Court revives claim of HR manager

12/15/2022
A week after an HR manager testified in a lawsuit against a former employer, she was fired. The HR manager then sued the employer who fired her for unlawful retaliation, a violation of Title VII.