Discrimination, Protected Activity

Retaliation. The second guy always gets caught.

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 1/12/2024

Mike Daniels is a 300-pound mound of sound who played defensive tackle in the National Football League. After receiving more than a few personal foul penalties during his 10-year career, he explained that “the second guy...more

Post-Dobbs Update: What Every Employer Needs to Know Now - Presentation

Benesch on 9/13/2022

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization - ..6-3 decision: Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion, with separate concurrences from Justices Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Roberts, and dissent by Justices Breyer, Sotomayor,...more

Post-Dobbs Employment Considerations

Benesch on 8/17/2022

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization the United States Supreme Court overturned years of precedent started by Roe v. Wade and conferred the right to regulate abortions to individual states. This marked change has...more

NLRB Administrative Law Judge Rules NLRA Does Not Protect BLM Messaging at Workplace

Fox Rothschild LLP on 6/22/2022

A National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recently dismissed a complaint against Home Depot USA, Inc., in which the NLRB General Counsel (GC) alleged the company violated the National Labor Relations Act...more

NLRB Announces New Standard for Reviewing Discipline for Offensive and Abusive Conduct

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 7/22/2020

Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in General Motors LLC announced a big win for employers by changing the standard under which it will evaluate discipline issued to employees who make abusive or offensive...more

Employers Gain Flexibility to Regulate Nonemployee Access to Property under the NLRA

Littler on 9/18/2019

On September 6, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) issued its decision in Kroger Limited Partnership I Mid-Atlantic, 368 NLRB No. 64, and officially rejected the idea that employers that allow civic and...more

Eleventh Circuit Finds HR Employee’s Assistance with EEOC Charge Reasonable

Burr & Forman on 10/10/2018

In late September, the Eleventh Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment for Kia Motors Manufacturing of Georgia, Inc. on race and national origin retaliation claims brought by one of its HR managers. In the split...more

Call Me, Maybe? Court Rules that Phone Call to OSHA Constitutes Filing of Whistleblower Complaint

Fisher Phillips on 7/16/2018

It might sound crazy, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) may now be receiving whistleblower complaints over the phone. This follows a recent ruling from a federal court in Wisconsin, which made it...more

“Why Matters” – In Texas, Proving Same-Sex Harassment “More Complicated” than Proving Opposite-Sex Harassment

Bracewell LLP on 4/11/2018

On April 6, 2018, the Texas Supreme Court issued a decision assessing what evidence is necessary to support an actionable same-sex sexual harassment claim. In an opinion totaling over 100 pages, the six-justice majority and...more

How to Get Yourself Fired for a Facebook Post

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 12/13/2017

Social media has created a minefield of concerns for both employees and employers. The news is full of stories of employees documenting their questionable off-duty conduct on social media, or posting comments containing...more

Opposing Employer Actions Directed at General Public Not Protected Activity

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 11/21/2016

Seyfarth Synopsis: An employee who expresses opposition to an employer’s policies and practices that affect members of the general public is not engaging in an activity that FEHA protects, because the activity is not opposing...more

Finally! Something That's Not "Protected Activity" in California

FordHarrison on 11/16/2016

It turns out that “protected activity” sufficient to make out a retaliation claim in California is not as broad as it may sometimes seem. On November 9, 2016, the Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for the employer in...more

EEOC Issues First Retaliation Guidance in Almost 20 Years

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP on 10/19/2016

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued its first enforcement guidance on employment-related retaliation in almost 20 years. The Final Guidance is in response to numerous court rulings on...more

EEOC Guidelines Provide a Confusing Roadmap to Investigating Retaliation Claims

Littler on 9/9/2016

Employers have been warned time and time again – retaliation claims are on the rise. With the number of these claims climbing, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued its Final Enforcement Guidance...more

Employers Take Note, EEOC Issues Final Retaliation Guidance

Akerman LLP - HR Defense on 9/1/2016

Employers should review their policies concerning retaliation and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) interference in light of the new Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation published by the EEOC this week. As retaliation is...more

Massachusetts High Court Paves Way for Employees to Engage in ‘Self-Help’ Discovery

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 6/29/2016

The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that, in certain instances, an employee can access and obtain an employer’s records in order to support a claim of employment discrimination. Verdrager v. Mintz Levin, No....more

Job Applicant Was Rejected Due to Dishonesty, Not Prior Lawsuit, Says Sixth Circuit

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 4/18/2016

On April 8, 2016, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment in favor of an employer in Hance v. BNSF Railway Company, a failure-to-hire retaliation case brought under the Uniformed Services Employment and...more

EEOC Ratchets Up Focus On Retaliation: EEOC Publishes First New Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation In Nearly Two Decades

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation on 2/4/2016

The EEOC seeks public comment on its new Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues, which will supersede the agency’s last-issued guidance on the topic from 1998. The updated guidance addresses several...more

California Enacts a Raft of New Employment Legislation

Proskauer - California Employment Law on 10/21/2015

The latest legislative session has just ended, and, true to form, the California Legislature has added more than a dozen new laws affecting employers doing business in the nation’s largest state. These statutes are in...more

UNDER THE BUS: Feds’ New Focus On Individual Wrongdoers Has Implications For Employers

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 9/25/2015

The U.S. Department of Justice has recently issued a memorandum entitled “Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing.” According to the Memorandum, companies involved in federal criminal and civil investigations will...more

OFCCP Issues Regulations on "Pay Transparency"

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 9/14/2015

Today the U.S. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued its Final Rule implementing Executive Order 13665, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating against employees and applicants who ask about or...more

Fourth Circuit Decides Rule Exempting Certain Management Professionals from Retaliation Lawsuits Not Applicable under Title VII

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC on 8/31/2015

Employers in the Fourth Circuit states of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia must now be mindful that employees who deal with complaints of discrimination and harassment can point to that...more

Discrimination › Protected Activity