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Hostile Environment Employer Liability Issues Employment Litigation

Carlton Fields

Third Circuit Holds Harassment Exclusion Bars Coverage for Sexual Assault Suit Under Pennsylvania Law

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In Rice Enterprises LLC v. RSUI Indemnity Co., the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s finding that the insured was not entitled to coverage from its employer’s liability insurer or its umbrella...more

Zuckerman Spaeder LLP

What Is Illegal DEI? Employers and Workers Are Still Looking for Answers

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Five years ago, companies were eager to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Now, the pendulum has swung in the other direction. DEI programs are under attack, and employers are trying to figure out what...more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

EEOC Sues Taco Bell Franchisees for Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

Federal Agency Alleges Fast Food Companies Created Hostile Work Environment for Female Workers, Including Teens, and Fired Manager When She Reported Misconduct - DETROIT – Six related entities operating Taco Bell...more

FordHarrison

EntertainHR: BTS of “It Ends With Us”: Speaking out on Social Media

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Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! If you’re anything like me, you spent your holidays watching “It Ends With Us,” a romantic drama film based on Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel, and catching up on the Blake Lively v....more

Carlton Fields

Eleventh Circuit Narrows Scope of Employee Title IX Claims

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Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 does not provide an implied right of action for sex discrimination in employment. This decision deepens an...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

Online, Off-Duty Harassment is Still Unlawful Harassment

Once an employer knows or has reason to know about alleged harassment, it has an obligation to promptly remedy the hostile work environment, even if the offensive conduct occurred wholly offsite, online, or off-duty. This...more

Venable LLP

Ninth Circuit to Employers: What Your Employees Say on Social Media May Haunt You

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Picture this: You're packing up your office, getting ready to head home for the evening, when your human resources manager peaks her head in. She explains that she has just fielded a complaint from a female employee: a male...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Sex-Plus X – What’s That? Discrimination

Here’s a refresher: Discriminating against a subclass of a sex (e.g., older women or black women) is still discrimination. In McCreight v. AuburnBank, the Eleventh Circuit clarified a few things for the lawyers related to the...more

Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.

Former Driver Wins “Nuclear Verdict” Against Global Package Delivery Company in Retaliation Lawsuit

On September 12, 2024, a Yakima, Washington jury awarded a $237.6 million nuclear verdict to Tahvio Gratton, a former package delivery driver who filed a lawsuit against his employer for violation of federal and state...more

Robinson & Cole LLP

Legal Update: Connecticut Supreme Court Adopts SCOTUS Definition of “Supervisor” for Establishing Vicarious Liability for Hostile...

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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

Miller Nash LLP

California Supreme Court Holds Single Allegation of Racial Slur by Coworker Sufficient to Form Basis of Hostile Work Environment...

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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

Seward & Kissel LLP

Employment Litigation Roundup: August 2024

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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

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Second Circuit Ruling Clarifies Reach of EFAA Under Continuing Violation Doctrine in Sexual Harassment Cases

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

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Posting About Another Employee on Social Media Could Be Unlawful Harassment

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

Chartwell Law

The Social Web’s Influence on Your Workplace and the Potential Havoc It Can Cause

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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

Perkins Coie

AZ Court Grants Summary Judgment for Employer on Hostile Work Environment and Retaliation Issues

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In Nessel v. JDM Golf LLC, 2024 WL 3494378, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona granted summary judgment for an employer, dismissing the federal law and Arizona state law claims of a former employee alleging...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Connecticut Supreme Court Adopts Federal Definition of ‘Supervisor’ for State Law Hostile Work Environment Claims

A “supervisor,” for purposes of a Connecticut state hostile work environment claim, is an employee who is empowered by an employer to take tangible employment actions, the Connecticut Supreme Court recently held in O’Reggio...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Single Use of Racial Slur May Constitute Harassment

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Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court ruled that an isolated, one-time, use of a racial slur may be so severe—when viewed in relation to the totality of the circumstances—as to alter the conditions of employment,...more

Holland & Knight LLP

When Social Media Posts Become Workplace Harassment

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on July 25, 2024, ruled that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, companies can be held liable for claims of a hostile work environment if an employee shares...more

Bodman

Michigan Supreme Court Expands Retaliation Liability Under Michigan’s Civil Rights Act

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The Michigan Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the case of Miller v. Department of Corrections expands the scope of retaliation claims under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA). This decision could have important...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Get with the Pronoun: Eleventh Circuit Rules Pervasive Misgendering Is Harassment

If an employer or coworker persistently uses a transgender worker’s wrong name or identified pronoun, can that constitute a hostile work environment in violation of Title VII? In Copeland v. Georgia Department of Corrections,...more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

Red Robin to Pay $600,000 in EEOC Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Settles Federal Charges the Casual Dining Chain Allowed Female Employees, including a Teen, to be Sexually Harassed, Retaliated Against, and Forced to Resign - EVERETT, Wash. – Restaurant chain Red Robin International,...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Employers Offering DEI Training Need To Monitor Both Pro- and Anti-DEI Court Challenges and Legislative Proposals

The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision declaring the consideration of race in university admissions unconstitutional has had a significant impact on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives....more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

DEI Training Videos Did Not Create Hostile Work Environment

Employers’ diversity, equity, and inclusion programs have faced recent pushback from employees and others who claim that the contents of training falsely accuse them of systemic bias based on their race....more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb: February Appellate Roundup

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This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal in the last month....more

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