On July 26, 2022, the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act was signed into law in Massachusetts by Gov. Charlie Baker. This is the 18th state making it illegal to discriminate against a person based on their hairstyle or texture. Massachusetts joins states such as California, Virginia and Tennessee, to […]
Unless the tide turns, highly restrictive non-compete agreements are headed the way of the dinosaur. More and more states and localities are taking action to curtail or bar their use. And even for employers whose states have not taken steps to limit or eliminate them, the writing on the wall indicates that federal regulation may […]
A state appeals court rejected a fired employee’s claim that a DEI policy proved a company engaged in sex discrimination. As a member of his company’s HR department, John Weaver was responsible for training employees. In the spring of 2019, the company restructured the department to optimize its performance. As part of the reorganization, Weaver […]
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reluctantly affirmed a lower court’s decision to reject sex bias claims filed by female detention officers who – unlike their male counterparts — were not allowed full weekends off. The case involved nine female detention service officers at the Dallas County Sheriff’s […]
A federal appeals court has upheld a decision to reject disability bias claims filed by a sleepwalking worker who mistakenly climbed into a co-worker’s hotel room bed during an out-of-town trip. Jennifer Harkey began working for NextGen Healthcare in 2008 in a position called “implementation specialist.” Things went well for a decade, and she was […]
The Eleventh Circuit upheld a $300,000 award for a fired employee after a jury determined her termination amounted to disability discrimination in violation of the ADA. Due to injuries sustained in a car accident, Ashley Merard had a tracheostomy tube that was visible on the front of her neck. In July of 2017, she was […]
Now is a great time for HR departments to review their policies regarding the provision of reasonable accommodation to employees with mental disabilities. It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of most everyone, and perhaps an even steeper one on individuals with preexisting mental health issues. With […]
It sounds simple and straightforward, but in plenty of cases it just doesn’t work out that way: To defeat a claim of unlawful age bias, provide a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the challenged job action. That’s what a Philadelphia employer was able to do in a lawsuit that accused it of violating the federal Age […]
A federal jury awarded $5.1 million to a flight attendant who was fired after she sent pro-life messages to her union president, the National Right to Work (NRTW) Legal Defense Foundation announced. The flight attendant worked for Southwest Airlines and was a member of its union – the Transportation Workers Union of America (TWU) Local 556 – […]
