Employment Law Navigator – Week in Review: February 2017 #3

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Over the weekend, a female Uber employee published a blog post that accuses the company of systemic sex discrimination and harassment. Uber quickly reacted, hiring former Attorney General Eric Holder to perform an “urgent investigation” of the allegations. Commentators have been quick to point out that Uber isn’t the only company in Silicon Valley with a sexual harassment problem, and have noted that Uber’s gender diversity figures are abysmal even by Silicon Valley’s low standards.

Discrimination
  • Washington state’s highest court upheld a fine against a florist who refused to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding.
  • The EEOC sued three related Hawaiian tour companies for allowing ongoing sexual harassment of male employees by the companies’ president for more than a decade.
  • Inc. recognized Valentine’s Day by rounding up five stories of workplace sexual harassment.
  • A Michigan medical services provider agreed to pay $21,500 and furnish additional relief to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit in which the EEOC alleged that the medical services provider fired an employee based on a perceived medical condition.
Technology
  • Consultants and tech developers are marketing “sentiment analysis” software that can be used by employers to assess employee engagement by scanning internal communications.
  • HR analytics may not be as hard as it first appears.
  • According to Bloomberg Businessweek, sensors are used in many offices to collect data on everything from temperature and energy use to employee whereabouts and behavior patterns.
  • TechCrunch identified several ways in which office technology is vulnerable to cyber attacks that can compromise employees’ personal data.
In Other News
  • Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination for Secretary of Labor, and Alexander Acosta, a Florida law school dean and former assistant attorney general, was nominated instead.
  • Employees across the United States were fired for missing work as part of the nationwide “Day Without Immigrants” protest last week.
  • A survey revealed that 84% of small business owners plan to move forward with salary and employee classification changes as though the DOL’s new overtime rule had taken effect.
  • Forbes offered six principles to consider when implementing an office dress code.
  • Health insurance, flexible scheduling, and vacation time are among the most desirable employee benefits, according to a study covered by Harvard Business Review.

 

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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