A Mexican-American man who worked for the city of The Dalles, Oregon, for three years has filed a lawsuit. The suit accuses the city of discriminating against him based on his race and national origin. He also says the city retaliated against him when he complained about the discriminatory treatment. Saul Ascencio began working for […]
A New Mexico federal judge refused to block a vaccine mandate for certain workers from going into effect. The court said data show the vaccines are safe and effective. It also said the vaccines provide immunity that “is significantly more robust than natural immunity gained following infection.” Right now, the Delta variant causes almost all […]
A court refused to dismiss an equal protection claim filed by a gay firefighter who says he was subjected to discriminatory treatment in the workplace. Sex-based trash-talk and pranks are still the norm in some police and fire departments. But if it’s a “general, on-going, and accepted practice,” it might amount to an official policy […]
One company terminated an employee with performance problems – but ended up in court because he was on protected leave at the time. Here’s why a court ruled against the company. Fired two months in James Hester worked as an engineer for Texas-based company Bell-Textron Inc. for more than 20 years. During his time there, […]
A federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s disposition of a firefighter recruit’s claim of unlawful race discrimination. Firefighter recruits at the city of Toledo’s training academy have to pass a test involving cutting a hole in a roof with a chainsaw. The academy’s usual practice was to dismiss any recruit who did not pass […]
Courts have determined that one or two uses of a racial slur are enough to create a hostile work environment. But what if the slur is said in a foreign language? In a recent lawsuit, the 5th Circuit decided the language the slur is spoken in is irrelevant. Offensive terms Michael Johnson, an African American […]
A new lawsuit accuses pharmaceutical behemoth Eli Lilly and Co. of violating laws banning age discrimination. It says Eli Lilly engaged in age discrimination by rejecting older job applicants for sales positions. The proposed class action names rejected applicants aged 49 and 55 as representative plaintiffs. It says Eli Lilly relies almost entirely on a […]
To reduce liability risks when bringing back employees to the workplace, companies should follow legal guidance and recommendations.
A Mississippi staffing agency will pay $40,000 and take other steps to resolve a federal government lawsuit that alleged pregnancy bias. The suit accused the employer of illegally discriminating against a job applicant based on her pregnancy. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suit targeted Labor Source, L.L.C., which does business as Wise Staffing. According […]
