Seyfarth Synopsis: In Easom v. US Well Servs., No. 21-20202, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 16556 (5th Cir. June 15, 2022), the employer defendant invoked the WARN Act’s “natural disaster” exception when it conducted mass layoffs in...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: While businesses have shifted their operations to digital platforms over the last few decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated the transformation of the workplace. One area where employers...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In EEOC v. Schuster Co., No. 13-CV-4063, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79815 (N.D. Iowa Apr. 13, 2021), the EEOC alleged that Defendant’s use of a strength test had disparate impact on female job applicants for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a landmark decision for gay and transgender employees, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, No. 17-1618, 2020 U.S. LEXIS 3252 (June 15, 2020), that Title VII prohibits...more
6/17/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an EEOC-initiated religious discrimination suit involving an employer’s alleged imposition of “Onionhead” religious practices, a federal district court in New York recently denied the employer’s motion...more
3/11/2020
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Compensatory Damages ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Punitive Damages ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Wellness Programs
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an EEOC disability discrimination lawsuit alleging that an employer failed to accommodate and then wrongfully terminated a laundry technician with anxiety, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In the latest battle of the multi-year showdown between the State of Texas and the EEOC – whereby Texas asserted that the EEOC’s 2012 “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction...more
8/12/2019
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Article III ,
Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Declaratory Judgment Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Standing ,
Title VII
Seyfarth Synopsis: After a federal magistrate judge in California ordered the EEOC to provide written discovery responses relative to the substance its pre-suit investigation of a sex discrimination charge in EEOC v. Chipotle...more
8/8/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Depositions ,
Discovery ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Evidence ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Pre-Suit Investigation ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
Seyfarth Synopsis: A federal district court in Arkansas recently denied an employer’s motion for summary judgment on two EEOC-initiated ADA claims – in EEOC v. Crain Automotive Holdings LLC, No. 4:17-CV-627, 2019 U.S. Dist....more
Synopsis: In an ADEA collective action alleging that a community college discriminated on the basis of age when it announced it would no longer employ any person receiving an annuity from the State Universities Retirement...more
3/15/2018
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
But For Causation ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Law Violations ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a showdown between the State of Texas and the EEOC – whereby Texas alleged that the EEOC’s “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title...more
2/28/2018
/ Adjudicatory Process ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Felons ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Ripeness ,
State and Local Government ,
Summary Judgment
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an ADEA action brought by the EEOC alleging that the New Mexico Department of Corrections failed to promote correctional officers over the age of 40, a federal district court in New Mexico denied the...more
12/8/2017
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Corrections ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Promotions ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Title VII
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an ADA action alleging that a maker of train components discriminated against a group of applicants by regarding them as disabled, a federal district court in Illinois granted the EEOC’s partial motion...more
12/8/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Medical Examinations ,
Railroads ,
Summary Judgment
Seyfarth Synopsis: After an employer circulated a letter to 146 employees discussing an employee’s EEOC Charge that alleged discrimination on the basis of his disability in violation of the ADA, a federal district court in...more
8/29/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internal Communications ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Reasonable Accommodation
Seyfarth Synopsis: Four African-American teachers alleged that their school district employer discriminated against them on the basis of race by failing to hire them as assistant principals, and filed a motion for class...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following an employer’s reduction-in-force that ultimately led to an ADEA collective action after several employees over 50 years old were terminated, a federal district court in Florida recently granted a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: After a Fifth Circuit decision affirming a ruling by a U.S. District Court in Texas allowed the EEOC to seek compensatory and punitive damages in its high-profile Title VII pattern or practice race...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A federal district court in Illinois recently granted the EEOC’s motion for partial summary judgment in EEOC v. Dolgencorp, LLC, No. 13-CV-4307 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 10, 2017), relative to two defenses advanced...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a class action alleging that the criminal background policy of Washington D.C.’s local transit authority had a disparate impact on African-Americans, a federal district court recently certified three...more
4/11/2017
/ Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
FRCP 23 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Race Discrimination ,
Transit Authority ,
Transportation Industry
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a first-of-its kind ruling, an employer recently secured the dismissal with prejudice of what is believed to be one of the first Telephone Consumer Protection Act class actions ever brought against a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In the high-profile EEOC race discrimination litigation against Bass Pro, the Court denied the EEOC’s motion for a ruling that would have allowed it to include in its § 706 claims those individuals who had...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an ADA action regarding disability discrimination, the Fifth Circuit reversed a District Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the employer and against the EEOC, noting that even though the...more
10/17/2016
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Light-Duty Positions ,
Medical Leave ,
Nurses ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reversal ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wrongful Termination
Seyfarth Synopsis: After the EEOC brought an action under the Americans With Disabilities Act against an employer who implemented a wellness program requiring employees to take a health assessment to participate, the Court...more
9/23/2016
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Medical Examinations ,
Retaliation ,
Self-Insured Health Plans ,
Summary Judgment ,
Voluntary Participation ,
Wellness Programs ,
Workplace Communication ,
Wrongful Termination
Seyfarth Synopsis: In the remand of the high profile Mach Mining litigation that was before the Supreme Court in 2015, a district court denied the EEOC’s motion for reconsideration of a discovery order pertaining to the scope...more
8/30/2016
/ Conciliation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discovery ,
Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Judicial Review ,
Mach Mining v EEOC ,
Mining ,
Motion for Reconsideration ,
Partial Summary Judgments ,
Popular ,
Protective Orders ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
Seyfarth Synopsis: In one of the first two ever transgender discrimination cases brought by the EEOC, a federal court in Michigan granted the employer’s motion for summary judgment, finding the employer met its burden in...more
8/19/2016
/ Burden of Proof ,
Compelling Governmental Interest ,
Dismissals ,
Dress Codes ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exemptions ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Transgender