Recently, two African-American businessmen were waiting for a colleague in a Philadelphia Starbucks. At one point, one of the men asked to use the restroom but was refused because they hadn't purchased anything. An employee, apparently concerned that they were...
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Employee Title VII Claims
50 Years After King, Blacks Left Out In Most High-Paying Fields
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King., Jr., described the "Other America" in one of his final speeches. He talked about the "fatigue of despair" for African-Americans who continue to be left out despite making significant economic and educational progress. Fifty years...
Does Your Company Offer Less Parental Leave To Men Than Women?
The EEOC recently settled a case against Estée Lauder, which had provided six weeks of child-bonding parental leave to "primary caregivers" but only two weeks to "secondary caregivers." The agency said that the policy -- as administered -- discriminated against men....
2nd Appeals Court Says Title VII Bans Anti-Gay Discrimination
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has just ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. It reasoned that since Title VII prohibits discrimination based on gender, it must also ban such...
EEOC Obtained Nearly $400 Million In FY 2017 Discrimination Cases
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently announced its results for fiscal year 2017, and the agency says it won $398 million nationwide in compensation for victims of discrimination. The agency also says it reduced its charge workload to its lowest level...
“AN EMPLOYMENT CAROL” – The Ghosts of Sex Harassment in the Workplace
Does your business culture actually support discrimination and harassment in the workplace? If so, how can you make meaningful changes and limit your liability? Take a lesson from Dickens: Scrooge's three ghosts represent choices and their consequences: (1) the past...
When Getting Busy at Work Can Get You Fired (And Why Employers Need an Electronic Communications Policy)
The term "sexting" crept into American vernacular in the mid-2000s and burst into the culture thanks, in large part, to Anthony Weiner. Prior to the rise and fall of "Carlos Danger," the Supreme Court addressed the question of whether an employer has the right to read...
TITLE VII: “Take Five”
FIVE SIMPLE STEPS FOR EMPLOYERS Harvey Weinstein is starring in a horror flick that he produced. Response to a New York Times article regarding Weinstein has been fast and furious. On October 5, 2017, The Times published an article about Weinstein's alleged sexual...
Umpire Sues MLB for Race Discrimination
As Major League Baseball (MLB) approaches the half-way point of the season, the league must deal with a newly filed lawsuit alleging discrimination. On Monday, a veteran umpire filed a lawsuit against the MLB claiming it failed to promote him in a broader pattern of...
Court Expands Sexual Orientation Protections
In the landmark case of Kimberly Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, an Appellate Court (covering Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin) concluded for the first time that the federal Civil Rights Act protects against discrimination in the workplace based on one's sexual...