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Discrimination / Harassment

EEOC: Title VII covers transgender employees

05/01/2015
Arguing that Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination covers transgender employees, the EEOC successfully pursued a bias claim filed by an employee who was fired shortly after beginning a transition from male to female.

Pope Francis calls gender pay gap ‘pure scandal’

05/01/2015
Pope Francis used the occasion of his weekly general audience on April 29 to call for pay equity between men and women.

Court moves FedEx ADA case to Pittsburgh

04/29/2015
Over EEOC objections, a trial to determine whether FedEx discriminated against deaf employees has been moved from Baltimore to a Pittsburgh courtroom. FedEx sought the change of venue, noting that its headquarters and those responsible for developing company policies on training and accommodation are based in Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania hospital becomes a ‘no nicotine’ employer

04/29/2015
On April 1, Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill began refusing to hire anyone who tests positive for nicotine use.

Ensure complaint doesn’t taint firing decision

04/29/2015

Employees who file discrimination complaints are protected from retaliation. When a complaint is closely followed by termination, it becomes easier for the fired employee to show the two were linked and that one caused the other. Smart employers cut this causal connection by making sure that whoever makes the termination decision wasn’t involved in the employee’s original complaint.

OK to pay more for different skills, duties

04/29/2015
Under the Equal Pay Act, men and women performing substantially similar jobs must be paid the same. But what exactly constitutes “substantially similar” jobs?

Pregnancy bias: Supreme Court creates a new legal framework

04/28/2015
The Supreme Court has ruled that a pregnant UPS employee who was denied a light-duty position is entitled to a new trial. The court’s framework for pregnancy discrimination cases allows employees who show that an employer policy that creates a “significant burden” for pregnant employees violates the Preg­­nancy Dis­­crimi­­na­­tion Act.

Sudden quit? Sort out why before panicking

04/28/2015
Good news if an employee isn’t satisfied with whatever you did to try to address a problem she raised: She can’t just quit in frustration and expect to win a lawsuit against you.

EEOC loses case based on ‘illegal’ claims releases

04/27/2015
The EEOC has lost an important test of a novel theory that could have changed how some severance agreements are structured. It wanted to forbid requiring workers to waive the right to sue if they were converted from employees to independent contractors.

Will nonnegotiable starting pay close the gender gap?

04/23/2015

New Reddit interim CEO Ellen Pao—fresh off losing a high-profile sex discrimination lawsuit against her former employer—has announced that on her watch, the user-generated Web news organization will no longer negotiate starting salaries with new hires. The reason: To make the workplace fairer for women.