Video game giant Activision Blizzard agreed to a multi-million dollar payout and consent decree in order to settle the EEOC’s sexual harassment lawsuit, which was filed last September. The company came under fire last year when employees alleged rampant sexual harassment and discrimination. The specific charges were quite severe and included claims of a “frat […]
If two co-workers have a major problem getting along at work, you have to do something. If they can’t iron out their differences, and you want both to stay, you need to find a way to make it work. The Massachusetts State Police (MSP) addressed a situation by transferring one of its troopers to a […]
In the widespread remote work era, employees are communicating digitally more often than in person. And while tools like Slack can be incredibly useful to help workers collaborate remotely, it also comes with a heightened risk of something employers may not have considered — harassment via emojis. The issue is, emojis can often have deeper […]
The owners of three Japanese steakhouses are on the hook for more than $1.45 million. This follows the entry of a consent judgment in a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuit. The federal Department of Labor (DOL) targeted Yuan Zheng Xiao and Christine Xiao. The pair own Fusion Japanese Restaurants in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. […]
It’s official. The Independent Contractor (IC) Final Rule goes into effect immediately. Surprised? In Coalition for Workforce Innovation et al. v. Walsh, a federal Texas court ruled that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) unlawfully delayed and withdrew the IC Final Rule. When Trump was still in office, the IC Final Rule was set to […]
When an employee reports an allegation of sexual harassment, they trigger a duty on the part of their employer to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation. But how prompt is prompt enough – and how thorough does the employer have to be? A new federal appeals court ruling backed an employer. It rejected an employee’s […]
It’s official: Employers can no longer require employees alleging sexual misconduct to resolve their claims via arbitration. Last week, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. The new law amends the Federal Arbitration Act, which generally favors arbitration of employment-related disputes. But there is now an […]
Make no mistake about it: The COVID-induced seismic shift to remote work is likely permanent, especially in light of evidence that remote workers tend to be more productive and happier. For employers, that shift has created a host of new challenges. Some are relatively obvious: maintaining employee engagement and ensuring cybersecurity come quickly to mind. […]
Employers know that refusing to accommodate or hire a disabled employee can end up being an ADA violation. But what happens if the disabled person poses a danger to themselves and others? A court addressed this issue in a recent lawsuit. Here’s a breakdown of the case. Possibility of seizures Russell Pontinen applied for a […]
Discrimination did not drive a school district’s decision not to renew a middle school teacher’s contract, a federal district court in Virginia decided. In 2014, the Smyth County School Board hired Jeri N. Davidson as a middle school teacher. In April of 2019, Davidson told her school’s assistant principal about her pregnancy. The assistant principal […]
A professor is claiming anti-Italian bias in employment. A court partially granted a defense motion to dismiss. But it also preserved several allegations. Claire Huffman is a 75-year-old Italian professor who has taught at Brooklyn College since 1972. Over the course of her teaching career, Huffman, who is of Italian descent, never had any job […]
The state of California, through its Department of Fair Employment and Housing, has filed a bombshell race bias lawsuit. The new suit accuses Tesla of subjecting employees at its Fremont plant to discrimination and ugly harassment based on race. Tesla is “a company that profits from an army of production workers, many of whom are […]
A furniture company will pay a steep price to settle a federal government lawsuit that accused it of unlawful sex discrimination. American Freight Management Company LLC does business as American Freight Furniture and Mattress. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued the employer. It accused it of discriminating against females on the basis of […]
It’s that time of the year! You know what we’re talking about … tax season. And you know what that means … a hoard of low-down, no-good, dirty, rotten scam artists will be coming out of the woodwork to trick your employees out of their personal and financial information. That’s why the IRS issued a […]
Here’s some good news for employers trying to get back to normal — more states have begun dropping mask mandates, and experts are cautiously optimistic we’re approaching “normalcy.” Some states that have ended their mask mandates (or will very soon) include: California Connecticut Delaware Illinois Massachusetts New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Oregon, and Rhode Island. […]
How far do employers have to go to keep their employees safe at work? In this case, an employee drowned while pressure-washing a dock. At the time, he was not wearing a personal floatation device. The big question: Did his employer have a legal obligation to make sure he used one? What factors go into […]
