Learn from a real employer's mistakes. Imagine this scenario: You are advertising for an open position. You get three applicants:
•Applicant 1 meets or exceeds all of your requirements.
•Applicant 2 fails to meet your...more
What takes priority? There was a social media storm this week after a large non-profit organization terminated a volunteer after the volunteer questioned the point of having preferred pronouns in signature blocks.
The woman...more
You won't want to miss this!!! You all probably read respectable news sources. I subscribe to a number of "sober" mainstream publications, but have a sick attraction to the Daily Mail and the New York Post....more
12/8/2023
/ Age Discrimination ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Performance Reviews ,
Performance Standards ,
Protected Class ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Termination ,
Wage and Hour
It's the law. Did you know that this Monday, August 21, is National Senior Citizens' Day? Neither did I. But it is!
How are you going to spend National Senior Citizens' Day? I was thinking about playing shuffleboard,...more
Inconsistencies were fatal to this employer.
It's a well-established principle in discrimination law that an employer can be done in by "shifting explanations" for actions taken against an applicant or employee.
A recent...more
Then again, it may have been that "FU" text I sent the boss.
You can't make this stuff up.
For those of you who think I'm too hard on employers, today is your day. There was an excellent pro-employer decision recently...more
Remember faxes?
I don't. A 70-year-old home health care nurse (RN) has sued her employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act....more
Even though the court was right, this stinks.
Picture this. Your current employee is suing you for race discrimination. She's also 40 or older, but she hasn't claimed age discrimination....more
A new series.
NOTE FROM ROBIN: For months, I've been thinking about doing a series of posts with very basic explanations of the federal laws that govern the workplace. I think the series would be helpful to people who are...more
3/25/2022
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
GINA ,
Race Discrimination ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
Here's the "carrot," after last week's "stick."
Last week, I wrote about the "Notorious Nine" mistakes that employers make when dealing with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Today I'll be more positive, and...more
There's a new sheriff in town . . . . . .
so y'all better straighten up.
You probably know by now that the Biden Administration fired Sharon Fast Gustafson, the Trump-appointed General Counsel of the Equal Employment...more
3/12/2021
/ Age Discrimination ,
Biden Administration ,
EEO ,
EEOC General Counsel ,
Employee Training ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Harassment ,
Joe Biden ,
Mediation ,
Medical Leave ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination
The EEOC is inviting us to ask for opinion letters!
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced this week that it will begin issuing opinion letters in response to requests from the public.
Eligible topics...more
12/11/2020
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Opinion Letter ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
And, remember those wellness regulations? New ones are in progress.
Yesterday the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its FAQs on coronavirus and discrimination. For those who are already familiar with the...more
C'mon, Boomers - lighten up!
The always-excellent Walter Olson of Overlawyered laments that the employment world is so heavily regulated that an employer can get in trouble for failing to act when a Millennial uses the...more
Millennials, can you relate to your older co-workers?
Everybody and their dog has workshops these days on how older workers should relate to Millennials. That's a fine idea, but does anyone ever offer a workshop to...more
Not sure I'm buying it.
Two out of three judges on a panel from my own U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently affirmed a jury verdict in favor of a woman who claimed that she was terminated because of her age....more
I can't imagine why they would.
In 2014, I blogged that IBM Corporation had made a conscious decision in its separation agreements to quit including the disclosures required by the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act....more
Another chapter in a continuing saga.
I've written three times about Dale Kleber, the very experienced attorney who was not considered for an entry-level job as in-house counsel with a health care company.
Mr. Kleber, who...more
An argument can be made.
To get a legally valid release of age discrimination claims under federal law, the release must be "knowing and voluntary." The federal Older Workers Benefit Protection Act says that a release of age...more
An important victory for age plaintiffs.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled last week that an outside job applicant can assert a "disparate impact" claim under the federal Age Discrimination in...more
Father, you kiss your mother with that mouth?
The recent dismissal of a lawsuit in New York — involving a priest who is principal at a Catholic high school — illustrates why an (alleged) “equal opportunity offender” is...more
Last week, I received a scathing comment from Dale Kleber, a Chicago-area lawyer and a plaintiff in an age discrimination lawsuit. Mr. Kleber did not like my gut reaction to his lawsuit, which was based on an article that I’d...more
At a client seminar that my office presented during the very contentious 2016 campaign season, my law partner John Doyle delivered an introductory disclaimer. Although I may not have his words verbatim, I will never forget...more
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act recently celebrated its 50th birthday (it doesn’t look a day over 49). This calls for an age discrimination quiz!...more
For those of you who don’t know Mr. Olson, he’s a libertarian. :-)
I have to admit, I needed time to process this! I complain about these laws all the time, but would I really want to get rid of all protections for...more