As I occasionally do, today I am bringing to you five great posts that I think are important for you to read. I am certain you will learn something. First up is a great post from my friend Jon Hyman. In his post Let’s all try to remember to have gender-neutral employment policies Jon reminds us …
In Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, there is no expressed protection for sexual orientation. However, during the Obama administration, the EEOC ruled that sexual orientation is protected under sexual discrimination provisions of Title VII. When the country switched over to the Trump administration, the Department of Justice said that sexual orientation is not …
Read moreThe Issue of Sexual Orientation has been settled, or has it?
I have come across a number of “must-know” lists in the past couple of weeks. Perhaps this is an artifact of the time of year, getting a fresh start phenomenon. As a result, I decided to do my own list. These are the things that I think all good professionals must know. Anti-discrimination Most of …
Read moreTwo Compliance Issues every HR professional should know and teach to managers
You may have read that the current Department of Justice has reversed the government’s standing on protection against discrimination for transgender employees. Well, they did and they didn’t. Let’s take a look at what happened. Reversal Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote a memo, on October 4, 2017, to all U.S. Attorneys and the heads of …
I read a lot of articles and newsletters from law firms and the government looking for topics for this blog. They are not hard to find. Here is a list from the EEOC: ABL Management to Pay $35,000 to Settle Retaliation Lawsuit with EEOC Desco Industries Will Pay $45,000 to Settle EEOC Retaliation Lawsuit Country …
I think when most of us hear about a sex discrimination lawsuit we have a tendency to think a woman has filed a claim for discrimination on the basis of her sex. We would probably be right the majority of the time, however, not always, as witnessed by a case settled in Las Vegas. The …
Read moreIt is not just women who claim sex discrimination lawsuits
I wrote back in 2015 about the importance of having multiple ways for an employee to report sexual harassment. This was based on another post I had done in 2011. In 2015 I said: “…it is important to have multiple ways an employee can report harassment. With many companies this is reporting to HR. However, …
Read moreWho do you report harassment to if the harasser is the CEO?
In a great post on her blog, attorney Robin Shea talked about the new EEOC guidance on sexual harassment that was just released. You can find it here, and you should read it! You have until February 9th to let the EEOC know what you think about it. You need to read Robin’s blog post …
Read moreRegulations written for big companies make life difficult for small companies
Firing an employee because it is in her best interest is never a good reason to terminate someone involved in a sexual harassment situation. It leads to something called “retaliation” which makes the lawsuit even more complicated. Lawsuit filed The EEOC claims that a plastics packaging company fired a female employee when she complained about …
In an August 29, 2016 press release the EEOC announced it final enforcement guidance on how retaliation is to be handles. As they announced retaliation is the most frequent claim of discrimination and exceeds 45% of claims of discrimination. As one of the three documents produced states “Federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws prohibit employers, …
Read moreGuarding against retaliation is a much more active process now!