In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today gave some teeth to the “ministerial exception” that, in essence, precludes some employees of religious institutions from suing them under federal discrimination laws. I’ve discussed the exception in various posts over the years here and here. Its been supported in the Second Circuit and by the… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: eeoc
Numbers Show That Sexual Harassment Claims on the Decline
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & HarassmentDid he or didn’t he? That’s what political pundits and others have been debating the last few weeks regarding presidential candidate Herman Cain. But a more interesting question is whether claims of sexual harassment are on the rise or not. Indeed, lost in the public discourse is a fact that isn’t talked about a lot:… Continue Reading
FAQ on Applying Performance Standards to Employees with Disabilities
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & Harassment, Highlight, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations, Manager & HR Pro’s Resource CenterAt the core of every employment relationship is the expectation that the employee will perform the job satisfactorily. But what happens to those performance expectations when an employee has a disability? As the federal government has acknowledged, The Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits “employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities, generally do[es] not impinge… Continue Reading
You’ve Got the “Look” But Do You Know the “Law”?
Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and RegulationsIn the retail and hospitality industries, employers sometimes are searching for that special “look” that can help define them. Abercrombie and Fitch is certainly one of those types of businesses, and you can think to various hotels, nightclubs or retail stores for other examples. But is it legal? That’s the subject of an interesting column… Continue Reading
What the Nation’s Lawyers Propose For Employment Law
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Legislative DevelopmentsWhen the ABA last visited Toronto in the 1990s for its annual meeting, cell phones and the Internet weren’t in heavy rotation. What a difference a decade makes. And, except for the mobile service providers who likely made thousands of dollars, it was a lot harder to connect than I anticipated. That, combined with a… Continue Reading
Passover & Easter: A Time to Reflect on Religious Discrimination Issues
Posted in Human Resources (HR) ComplianceWith Passover and Easter coming up this week, it seems timely to revisit the laws regarding religious discrimination and accommodation. Fortunately for you (and me), the Employment & Labor Insider just posted a terrific piece on the subject. Among the issues that the post flagsis the common situation of an employer who tries to decide… Continue Reading
It’s Snow Joke: EEOC Statistics Show Increasing Numbers of Retaliation Cases Filed, But Then What?
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Human Resources (HR) ComplianceNews flash: Record snows in Connecticut! Second news flash: Record numbers of people are out of work and filing complaints of discrimination at the EEOC nationwide! Here’s the thing with both news flashes: They’re not entirely unexpected. Sure, they’re in higher amounts than we’re accustomed to seeing, but both can be explained. (I’ll leave it… Continue Reading
Family Responsibilities Discrimination (FRD): The Next Big Field in Employment Law?
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and RegulationsYesterday, I had the opportunity to speak to the Fairfield County Bar Association on the burgeoning field of Family Responsibilities Discrimination (FRD, for short). It is also known at times as Caregiver Discrimination. In essence, it is a cross-disciplinary practice that looks as various statutes like Title VII, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, FMLA, ADA and… Continue Reading
“No Spanish Allowed” – Special Free Webinar on English-Only Rules On Wednesday
Posted in Human Resources (HR) ComplianceOur monthly free monthly webinar series continues on Wednesday, December 8th at noon EST with a unique program on whether employers can adopt English-only rules. You can register here to join us. This should be a terrific one-hour program that you can listen to during your lunch hour. Even if you’re not considering adopting… Continue Reading
EEOC Holds Public Hearing on Use of Credit Reports for Hiring
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and RegulationsYesterday, the EEOC held a public hearing on the use of credit reports as a basis for making hiring and other employment-related decisions. Jon Hyman, of the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog, has an excellent recap of the discussion which I won’t attempt to duplicate here. Jon argues that it would be unfair to employers to prohibit… Continue Reading
Research: Employment Discrimination Cases Often Result in Only Small Victories for Some Employees
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & HarassmentAt the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco on Friday, there was a terrific panel discussion by various researchers who have been looking at discrimination cases brought at both the EEOC and in federal courts. The program was based on two academic articles over the last few years: One was written by Laura Beth Nielsen, Robert… Continue Reading
Guest Post: Statutes of Limitations in Discrimination Cases — When Is It Too Late for an Employee To Sue?
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & Harassment, Laws and Regulations, LitigationMy thanks to my colleague, Mick Lavelle, who has drafted the following post on a noteworthy issue decided today by the Connecticut Appellate Court. For employers with long-standing discrimination claims, it’s worth understanding what the statute of limitations are on such claims. Most employers know that claims of employment discrimination can be brought under two… Continue Reading
The Basics: What It Takes To File a Employment Discrimination Lawsuit
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationNewspapers this week seem enraptured with the idea that an employment discrimination lawsuit is news. It shouldn’t be. Why? Because all that a discrimination lawsuit is — by its fundamental nature — is a set of allegations against an employer. Nothing more, nothing less. That doesn’t mean, of course, that each lawsuit that is brought… Continue Reading
Privileged Gender Disparity Memo to Wal-Mart’s Attorneys Leaked to NY Times; What About the Self-Critical Analysis Privilege?
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationToday, The New York Times reported on a privileged memo sent to Wal-Mart from its outside lawfirm back in 1995 that "found widespread gender disparities in pay and promotion at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores and urged the company to take basic steps — like posting every job opening and creating specific goals to promote… Continue Reading
Bill Allowing Complainants to Get A Quick Release from CHRO Gets a Makeover (And Moves On)
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Legislative DevelopmentsEarlier this month, I posted on a bill pending before the Connecticut General Assembly that would have changed the statute of limitations for filing employment discrimination claims and allowed a Complainant to ask for a release of jurisdiction of the CHRO as soon as possible. This week, the Labor & Public Employee Committee approved of… Continue Reading
EEOC Releases Proposed Rule Affecting “Reasonable Factor Other Than Age” Defense Under ADEA
Posted in CHRO & EEOCOver the last week or so, various blogs have discussed a proposed rule released by the EEOC which discusses and defines what is meant by the "reasonable factor other than age" (RFOA) defense under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Not familiar with it? The Employer Law Report sums it up nicely here: In Smith… Continue Reading
Quick Hits for a Holiday: Labor Unions, EEOC Agenda, Intermittent FMLA Leave, Overtime
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & Harassment, Laws and Regulations, Litigation, Wage & HourBusy end to the week so here’s a quick recap of some of the stories I’ve been hoping to write further about but have run out of time. There’s also a link or two to other stories of interest in Connecticut. For those dealing with labor unions, the DC Employment Law Update notes that a new… Continue Reading
Second Circuit Orders Release of Records to EEOC, Says Some Financial Services Workers May be Entitled to Overtime
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Class Actions, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation, Wage & HourThe Second Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes Connecticut) recently ruled on two cases of keen interest to employers. The first relates to enforcement of EEOC subpoenas and the second relates to the classification of some financial services workers. First, in EEOC v. United Parcel Services, the Court allowed the EEOC to press forward with its… Continue Reading
Quick Hits: GINA, EEOC’s New Website, NLRB Decisions, Top 100 Blogs
Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Labor Law & NRLB, Laws and Regulations, Legislative Developments, Litigation, Social MediaOver the weekend, I was asked: How do you keep coming up with ideas for the blog? My response was that I use Google Reader to flag stories that may be of interest. Unfortunately, over the last few weeks, I’ve been flagging more stories than I’ve had time to write about. So, now seems a… Continue Reading
New Postings Required for Employers Effective November 21, 2009
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and RegulationsKeeping track of workplace posters is assuredly one of the most mundane aspects for a human resources department but for the next few weeks, perhaps it’ll get a little more exciting. For the first time in a while, employers that are covered by federal anti-discrimination laws (typically 15 or more employees) will need to update… Continue Reading
The Swine (H1N1) Flu & The Workplace – An Update on What Employers Need to Know Now
Posted in Human Resources (HR) ComplianceWith the swine (H1N1) flu vaccine production running slower than anticipated, the hope that workplaces would avoid the full effects of a pandemic is slowly diminishing. Interesting, Connecticut is one of just 9 states that are not reporting a widespread swine flu outbreak (perhaps because the first wave hit the state fairly hard). … Continue Reading
ADA Amendments and Proposed Regulations Webinar Materials Now Available Online
Posted in Laws and RegulationsThanks to all the people who joined us for our webinar on the ADA Amendments Act and the proposed implementing regulations. Our attendance continues to exceed our expectations and we’ll continue with this monthly series every second Wednesday of the month (though note that we’ll be moving the date of the November one in honor… Continue Reading
As Race Is On Between Virus and Vaccine, EEOC Has Helpful ADA-Compliant Tips for Employers
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and RegulationsThe next month or two will certainly be interesting around the workplace. The H1N1 Virus continues to spread around the country, a new vaccine is ready to be rolled out that experts hope will stave off further infections. And employers are, in some cases, holding their collective breath that the vaccine wins out so as… Continue Reading
Quick Hits: EEOC’s ADEA Lawsuit; FLSA Collective Actions & Releases; Severance Pay & Taxes;; EEOC Compliance Manual Update
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Class Actions, Discrimination & Harassment, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations, Litigation, Social Media, Wage & HourWith the dog days of summer in full force here in Connecticut ("it’s the heat AND the humidity"), it seemed an appropriate time to roll out another installment of the "Quick Hits" feature to touch on a few items you might have missed over the last week or so: One of the biggest stories that you’ll… Continue Reading
About Daniel Schwartz
Trusted advisor. Experienced employment law attorney. Bar leader. Award-winning author. Noted Speaker. "Legal Rebel". All can be said to be apt descriptions of Daniel Schwartz, a member of Pullman & Comley. More +
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