California retail businesses must prepare to open employee-only restrooms to members of the public to accommodate medical conditions including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, other inflammatory bowel disease, and...more
Dear Littler: Our retail clothing chain has stores in 10 major cities across the country. We recently had an issue in our Seattle, Washington location. A customer claiming to have a medical condition wanted to use our...more
Everybody's favorite subject. Last week, Karla Miller -- the workplace advice columnist of The Washington Post -- had a fascinating letter with this problem: The letter writer is the only female working on a floor with...more
New York City Council has passed a package of six bills that together regulate nearly every aspect of the relationships between third-party food delivery services and their delivery workers within New York City. The bills,...more
The Illinois Appellate Court (Second District) recently issued an opinion deciding an issue of first impression here in Illinois: whether an employer violates the Illinois Human Rights Act (Act) by denying a transgender woman...more
Affirming the largest emotional distress award ever made by the Illinois Human Rights Commission, the Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District has handed down the first Illinois state court decision affirming a...more
On the one year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, the EEOC has issued new guidance to clarify whether employers can segregate workplace restrooms by gender or sex. While not law, this...more
On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, holding that, pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, covered employers may not discriminate...more
The Occupational Health and Safety Act (the OHS) was signed into law in 1970 and established the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), as part of the U.S. Department of Labor. Under the so-called "general...more
Lawmakers in Maine closed out the 2019 legislative session with a flurry of activity. Legislators passed more than 500 bills this year, including 50 on the final day, with many targeting the state’s employment laws....more
Across the country each June, communities come together to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month. This month of events honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan while also...more
The New York City Commission on Human Rights (the “Commission”) has issued a Notice of Public Hearing and Opportunity to Comment on proposed rules to establish certain definitions and clarify the scope of protections against...more
The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) now has additional protections against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression in the workplace. The new FEHA regulations, entitled “Regulations...more
The California Fair Employment and Housing Council (“FEHC”) recently adopted amendments to the existing regulation on sex discrimination which address transgender identity and expression. Some changes are subtle, including a...more
California continues to forge a trail for gender identity protections in the United States. On July 1, 2017, the Fair Employment and Housing Council enacted new regulations addressing transgender issues that broaden the scope...more
At its meeting on July 17, 2017, the Fair Employment and Housing Council (FEHC) addressed a conflict between its regulations and OSHA’s regulations, regarding gender-neutral restroom facilities. AB 1732, enacted as Health...more
The California Office of Administrative Law has approved new regulations, effective July 1, 2017, expanding protections for transgender workers under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The FEHA prohibits...more
California is continuing to be a leader on emerging civil rights issues. Back in 2004, California enacted laws to protect transgender workers. Transgender issues have become a front-burner topic. On the national scene,...more
Effective July 1, 2017, there are new regulations adopted by California’s Fair Employment and Housing Authority which significantly expand protections against discrimination for the transgendered. Broader Definitions - ...more
In May 2017, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) approved new regulations regarding transgender identity and expression in the workplace. The regulations become effective July 1, 2017....more
In recent months, the California Fair Employment and Housing Council (FEHC) has finalized two new sets of regulations that will both go into effect on July 1, 2017. California employers should pay close attention to these new...more
Of late, we have recently written quite a bit about the ever-changing legal landscape regarding protections for LGBTQ employees. Most of the authority we explored involved whether or not sexual orientation (as well as gender...more
In 2016, 1.4 million adults in the United States identified as transgender. Federal Circuit Courts have consistently ruled that Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment based on an applicant’s or employee’s...more
As readers of our Education Law Notes blog are well aware, there has been a lot of focus on the rights of transgender students with respect to bathroom access in educational institutions under Title IX. The rights of...more
On March 30, 2017, the North Carolina legislature repealed what has been known as the “Bathroom Bill” or H.B. 2, a law passed in March of 2016 that, among other things, required individuals to use the public bathroom that...more