Federal civil rights laws prevent retaliation against employees who oppose discriminatory conduct in the workplace. What happens, however, when the employee’s oppositional conduct interferes with the performance of her job...more
As with most federal labor laws, employers cannot retaliate against employees who complain about wage payment violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. What happens, however, when a prospective employee claims that they...more
Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in the making of contracts, including employment contracts. Section 1981 is often used by employees suing for race discrimination as...more
4/14/2020
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
But For Causation ,
Causation ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Evidence ,
Pleading Standards ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
UT Southwestern Medical v Nassar
In order to state a claim of employment discrimination under federal civil rights laws, employees must demonstrate that they have been subjected to an adverse action. In most cases, the employee has been fired, demoted, or...more
Here is a scenario we commonly face with clients: A poor-performing employee has not quite reached the point of termination. Just prior to a final decision on her employment, she goes to the Human Resources Department to...more
When we respond to allegations of employment discrimination, reconstructing the timeline of events is crucial. In these situations, the parties often agree what happened (i.e., the employee was terminated). Where they differ...more
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) provides federal whistleblower protections against retaliation for employees of publicly held companies who complain about fraudulent activities. However, not all employee complaints are protected...more
On June 3, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously resolved a split among federal appellate courts dealing with the question of whether Title VII’s requirement that plaintiffs file an administrative charge with the Equal...more
6/17/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Amended Complaints ,
Appeals ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Forfeiture ,
Fort Bend County Texas v Davis ,
Jurisdictional Requirements ,
Mandatory Claim-Processing Rules ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Title VII ,
Waiver Rule ,
Wrongful Termination
Successful women have long been the subject of rumors that promotions or other career advancements were the result of their “sleeping their way to the top.” Earlier this month, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which...more
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released information on charges filed with the agency in fiscal year 2018. Total charges declined to 76,418, the lowest number filed with the EEOC since 2006. ...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Act prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who report workplace injuries to OSHA. On March 1, OSHA filed a lawsuit against a Massachusetts construction company whose CEO...more
In a recent EmployNews article, we reported on a federal appellate circuit split over how courts should dispose of employment discrimination suits where the plaintiff fails to file an EEOC charge within the required statutory...more
2/26/2019
/ Appeals ,
Charging Party ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Jurisdiction ,
Public Employees ,
Remand ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Title VII
When a current employee files an EEOC charge or other legal claim against his or her employer, the company sometimes learns that the employee has been taking company documents and providing them to persons outside the...more
In the hospitality industry, it is fairly common for a hotel to retain a management company to run housekeeping, food and beverage, and other functions. While the management company may supervise and direct the work of hotel...more
10/1/2018
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotel Management Agreements ,
Hotels ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII
Over the past month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a series of lawsuits targeting alleged harassment and retaliation situations. The EEOC has filed the suits in coordinated waves, spread out in...more
Under Title VII, employers are generally strictly liable for harassing conduct by supervisors. In its Faragher and Ellerth decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court developed a limited defense for employers accused of supervisor...more
8/1/2018
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Appeals ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Harassment ,
Remand ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Supervisors ,
Title VII
Here is an alleged fact pattern that if true, will almost guarantee that an employer will write a large check to a former employee:
..Her supervisor had made well-known her objection to African-American employees in the...more
Through the 2000s, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina and South Carolina) had the reputation as one of the most employer-friendly U.S. appellate courts. As new judges took to the bench over the...more
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) prohibits publicly held employers from retaliating against employees who report illegal conduct that could have a material impact on shareholders. Since SOX was enacted, federal courts have issued...more
From time to time, we encounter businesses described by their owners as managed and operated under Christian principles. The owners explain that they use their personal faith to guide their business decisions, including...more
Two recent major news stories again involve the intersection of politics with employment law. In the first matter, Google fired a programmer after he posted an internal document criticizing the company’s diversity...more
8/23/2017
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Diversity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Google ,
Hate Speech ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Political Expression ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation
Employers sometimes defend retaliation claims by responding that the person or persons making the adverse employment decision was not aware of the plaintiff’s prior complaint. In the employment discrimination context, the...more
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does not require employers to agree to allow employees to work from home based on medical restrictions. The Americans with Disabilities Act may require employers to provide such...more
In its December Vaughn decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that plaintiffs in age discrimination cases may not collect compensatory or punitive damages. The court based its decision on its interpretation of...more
On January 1, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) new recordkeeping and reporting rule took effect. The main impact of this rule requires employers to electronically file annual injury and...more