What's the Tea in L&E? "Passive" Harassment: When Does Workplace Decor Contribute to a Hostile Environment?
What's the Tea in L&E? Truth Hurts or Rumors? Lizzo’s Harassment Allegations Serve As A Good Reminder
Middle East Conflict Impact on the Healthcare Workplace: An HR Perspective
The Labor Law Insider - Pause Before You Discipline: NLRB Turns Against Civility in Lion Elastomers Decision
Labor & Employment Law: Vermont and Federal Legislative Update
Politics at Work
Employment Law Now: III-47 - New York, New World
III-41- Things That Make You Go “Hmmm” in Employment Law
Ann Curry’s Departure from the Today Show Presents a Number of Lessons for Employers
The national and global hyperpolitical atmosphere inevitably touches the workplace, where employers and employees must remain productive while navigating the intersection of political expression, workplace culture and...more
Raymond Horgan, the District Attorney of Kindle County, declares “it’s Rusty’s case,” in the premier of Apple TV+’s legal thriller, Presumed Innocent. The “case” concerns the brutal murder of Carolyn Polhemus, a respected...more
On August 1, 2024, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in O’Reggio v. Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities that the definition of “supervisor” set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in Vance v. Ball State University to...more
On August 12, 2024, the Second Circuit held that a plaintiff's hostile work environment claims were subject to the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 ("EFAA"), even though...more
As the workplace continues to take a new shape, the distinction between “workplace conduct” and “off duty” conduct continues to fade for many. After a recent Ninth Circuit ruling, employers must be more vigilant than ever in...more
In 2017, former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy noted in Packingham v. North Carolina that the most important place for the exchange of ideas is no longer the physical town square but cyberspace and, in particular,...more
Federal Agency Charged Construction Company Allowed Sexual Harassment of Female Truck Driver and Retaliated Against Her After She Complained - RALEIGH, N.C. – Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc., a highway construction...more
Federal Agency Alleges Two Restaurants and an Airline Allowed Hostile Work Environments to Fester - WASHINGTON –The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a trio of lawsuits alleging that discriminatory...more
Recently, the California Supreme Court found that a plaintiff’s claim based on a single (disputed) racial epithet by a non-supervisory coworker was sufficient to form the basis of a hostile work environment claim—it was...more
In a win for employers, the Connecticut Supreme Court defines “supervisor” narrowly for purposes of vicarious employer liability under Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act - Under Connecticut’s civil rights law, an...more
Several changes impacting employers in jurisdictions across the nation are summarized in our latest blog post. California - Effective July 1, 2024- On July 1, 2024, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2288 (A.B. 2288)...more
Plumbing Contractor Will Compensate Black and Hispanic Plumbers Subjected to Racially Hostile Work Environment and Retaliation - TAMPA, Fla. – J.A. Croson, a Sorrento, Florida-based plumbing and HVAC contractor, agreed to...more
A recent amendment to Israel’s sexual harassment law expands the obligations of an employer under the law to cover employees of contractors providing services to the employer....more
Between hybrid work, flexible schedules, online meetings, and the ubiquity of social media, the lines between in and out of office conduct continue to get murkier and create potential tagalong liability that persists for...more
Compliance professionals constantly seek to understand how systemic issues within corporate hierarchies can lead to severe consequences. The recent revelations about Bank of America’s (BoA) persistent workplace culture...more
On July 25, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the notion that harassing conduct must occur inside the workplace to be considered actionable. The court also affirmed the notion that “the totality...more
Summary: Courts must consider allegations of a racially hostile workplace “from the perspective of a reasonable person belonging to the racial or ethnic group of the plaintiff.” Under this framework, “a single racial epithet...more
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that under the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (EFAA), a hostile work environment “accrues” for purposes of the EFAA each time a...more
Prior to the advent of social media, employers were generally comfortable drawing a bright line between what employees did on their own time and workplace misconduct. Those bygone times, however, have been replaced by a...more
The following may be a true story. The events depicted allegedly took place in Lompoc, California, in 2020. Out of deference to the judges involved, their names have not been used. Out of respect for the victim, her story...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled, in Okonowsky v. Garland, No. 23-55404, that an employer may be held liable for a Title VII hostile work environment claim based on harassing content posted on an...more
In a July 29, 2024, opinion, the California Supreme Court reaffirmed that a single use of a racial epithet can be severe enough to be actionable harassment under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)....more
On July 22, 2024, Solicitor General of the United States Elizabeth B. Prelogar submitted applications to the Supreme Court of the United States for a partial stay of two preliminary injunctions issued, respectively, by the...more
Social media has truly changed our world, both in and outside of the workplace. It has evolved into a daily habit for many of us; the way we get news about the world and our friends, the way we shop, gossip, and much more. It...more
Employers have a duty to ensure that their workplaces are not hostile, both in the physical and virtual worlds. This responsibility extends to both actual and constructive knowledge of potential issues....more