A new federal appeals court ruling highlights an important rule about disability-related job accommodation under the ADA. The rule: An employee is not entitled to their accommodation of choice, even if it is effective. Instead, an employer meets its job accommodation duty by offering any effective reasonable accommodation. Two effective accommodations, and one is more […]
Scoring a significant preliminary victory, an out-of-state remote employee who lives and works in New Hampshire will be allowed to pursue pay discrimination claims based on the law of New Jersey, where the company is headquartered. Here’s what happened: In March 2022, an employee sued her employer under federal and New Jersey law, alleging she […]
A mid-July letter signed by the attorneys general of 13 states warns Fortune 100 CEOs that they “will face serious legal consequences” if they take their DEI efforts too far by discriminating based on race. This is not some farfetched scenario, the letter says. In fact, the AGs assert that race discrimination under the guise […]
Hollywood’s latest drama – a simultaneous strike by screenwriters and actors – hasn’t been seen since 1960, before most of today’s workforce was even born. As you’ve probably heard, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike in early May, and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (more commonly known […]
Word to the wise: Never try to duck out of obligations outlined in a consent decree. You won’t be able to hide for long. That’s a lesson recently learned the hard way by a Baltimore company and its owner, Bryan Hill. Here’s how the whole mess got started – and the latest development in the […]
Just days after announcing a $50,000 settlement to resolve a sexual harassment claim involving a customer, the EEOC issued another reminder that the agency is cracking down on third-party sexual harassment. This time, the agency took aim at a union in Colorado. And the third party was the union’s business agent. Here’s what happened: Union’s […]
Heads up, Colorado employers: The Protecting Opportunities and Workers’ Rights (POWR) Act, which significantly expands workplace protections for employees, takes effect on Aug. 7. The new law amends the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) by, among other things, making marital status a protected class. Notably, the POWR Act also lowers the bar to prove harassment […]
It seems like a pretty basic and commonsense rule: Pay people equal pay for equal work – regardless of their gender. But if the allegations presented in a just-resolved EEOC lawsuit are true, it’s a rule that not all employees steadfastly follow. The agency sued Inova Home Health, LLC in a Virginia federal district court […]
Your frontline managers probably know the company has a legal obligation to protect employees from sexual harassment from co-workers. But what if it’s a customer crossing the line? Just how far do employers have to go to protect employees from third-party sexual harassment? This case involved Houchens Food Group, Inc., owner and operator of Pic-N-Sav […]
The EEOC claims in a newly filed lawsuit that an Idaho employer responded to a bias allegation by telling the reporting employee to “be the bigger person” and then denying her a promotion. The target of the new suit is Elevation Labs, LLC, which was formerly known as Northwest Cosmetic Labs. The agency says Rachel […]
The Biden administration is advancing the ball on protecting employees, especially when it comes to hot topics like sexual harassment, non-disclosure agreements, pregnancy and women returning to work after the birth or adoption of a child. And there can be severe consequences if your HR team doesn’t follow the letter of the law. In HRMorning’s […]
Front and center among a small slew of bombshell U.S. Supreme Court holdings that emerged last week was this one: Race-based admissions systems in higher education are unconstitutional – and thus prohibited. “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it,” the Court’s majority memorably pronounced, while finding that both Harvard College and the University of […]
As you’ve probably heard, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) went into effect late last month. The EEOC has since released PWFA guidance to help companies comply with the new law until it issues compliance regs. What you need to know about the new law If you missed our complete coverage of the PWFA, here’s […]
As we predicted, the U.S. Supreme Court has expanded the duty of employers to provide religious accommodation to employees under Title VII. The high Court did so via a unanimous decision that essentially redefines the concept of “undue hardship” in cases involving religious accommodation. Beginning immediately, employers must be prepared to do more to accommodate […]
As an HR professional, you know that words matter – a lot. And you’re probably mindful of how you speak about employees and applicants to avoid making a questionable comment. That’s important because the wrong words can make employees feel excluded or ostracized at work. And as this case shows, careless words from HR can […]
When it comes to accommodation of employee disabilities, you would think employers would learn from others’ mistakes. But it just doesn’t always happen. Here’s a case in point: A North Carolina employer has agreed to pay $42,000 and provide other relief to settle a lawsuit that accused it of unlawful disability discrimination and retaliation. And […]
