Supreme Court will rule on 3 key HR-related cases

This month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on three cases that have a direct impact on how HR and employers will do business.
#1
Case: AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen
Issue: Pregnancy discrimination
Summary: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 mandates that employees receive time-in-service credit — for purposes of retirement and other benefits — for all pregnancy-connected absences. The employer maintains that any pregnancy-related absences prior to ’78, when the law was passed, cannot be added to time-in-service credit. The employee says pre-’78 pregancy absences must be credited.
#2
Case: Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville
Issue: Retaliation
Summary: “Employee A” was called upon to provide information in an internal investigation involving a charge of sexual harassment against “Employee B,” a member of upper management. Eventually, Employee A was fired supposedly for poor job performance. Employee A sued the employer, charging the firing was in retaliation for cooperating with the investigation of Employee B. The employer argued that Title VII protections against retaliation apply only to formal investigations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and not to an employer’s internal investigation.
#3
Case: 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett
Issue: Arbitration clauses
Summary: As part of a collective-bargaining agreement’s arbitration clause, an employee was obligated to waive his right to sue under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The employee argues that such clauses cannot be enforced because federal law guarantees the right to sue for age discrimination, and that no arbitration agreement can void that right.