What's the Tea in L&E? "Passive" Harassment: When Does Workplace Decor Contribute to a Hostile Environment?
What's the Tea in L&E? Truth Hurts or Rumors? Lizzo’s Harassment Allegations Serve As A Good Reminder
Middle East Conflict Impact on the Healthcare Workplace: An HR Perspective
The Labor Law Insider - Pause Before You Discipline: NLRB Turns Against Civility in Lion Elastomers Decision
Labor & Employment Law: Vermont and Federal Legislative Update
Politics at Work
Employment Law Now: III-47 - New York, New World
III-41- Things That Make You Go “Hmmm” in Employment Law
Ann Curry’s Departure from the Today Show Presents a Number of Lessons for Employers
A recent Ninth Circuit decision clarifies employers’ obligations to address hostile work environment complaints arising out of employees' off-premises social media activity. In Okonowsky v. Garland (No. 23-55404; Jul. 25,...more
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
In King v. Aramark Services, Inc., No. 22-1237 (March 20, 2024), a Second Circuit panel affirmed the dismissal of claims under the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”), concluding that under New York’s “impact test,”...more
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, there has been in increase in litigation challenging employers’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies and practices. In one recent...more
On Oct. 2, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released proposed enforcement guidance on harassment in the workplace, and the proposed guidance has been receiving quite a bit of attention. This begs the...more
We often hear claims from employees who threaten to sue their employer for creating a “hostile work environment.” When we dig into the complaints, often the employee is alleging that their manager is mean or unfair to them,...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that federal courts will not serve as a super HR department for employees who complain about unpleasant work conditions. Every worker is expected to tolerate a certain level of obnoxious...more
Over the past decade, a growing number of federal appellate circuits have heard cases asking whether a single use of a racially offensive epithet is enough to clear the bar for a hostile environment racial harassment claim...more
Title VII permits retaliation claims even when the plaintiff is not the party against whom the initial discrimination was directed, the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit has ruled, reversing the district court’s dismissal...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In EEOC v. Konos, Inc., Case No. 1:20-CV-973 (W.D. Mich. June 3, 2021), the EEOC filed a lawsuit on behalf of a claimant against her employer, alleging it subjected to her to a hostile work environment and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: After over a decade of litigation between the EEOC and trucking company CRST Van Expedited, the Eighth Circuit recently affirmed a federal district court’s order requiring the EEOC to pay $3.3 million in...more
The diminution of an employee’s duties can constitute an adverse employment action in violation of Title VII, a New York federal court recently held in a case involving an African-American medical doctor....more
In recent years, a number of federal appellant courts, including the Fourth Circuit, have issued opinions finding that a single use of a racial slur can be enough to constitute a hostile and offensive working environment...more
Courts around the country are split on the question of whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects individuals against discrimination based on sexual orientation. A recent Arizona federal court recognized the ability...more
The Fourth Circuit’s recent decision in Evangeline Parker v. Reema Consulting Services, Incorporated, 915 F.3d 297 (4th Cir. 2019) grabbed headlines for its controversial ruling that workplace gossip can support a sex...more
On March 6, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided Fox v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, eliminating any uncertainty concerning whether an employee can assert a hostile work environment claim under the...more
Over the past decade, federal courts have gradually reduced the evidentiary burden necessary for a plaintiff to reach a jury trial on claims involving sexual or racial harassment. The relevant legal standard calls for the...more
Faced with a question not yet addressed by the Third Circuit, a federal judge in Pennsylvania found an employer, as well as individual managers, may be held liable for an employee’s claim of a hostile work environment based...more
Recent federal court decisions serve as a timely reminder of an employer’s obligations under Title VII to protect employees from all unlawful harassment in the workplace, even if that harassment is perpetrated by someone...more
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from workplace harassment. As most employers know, these protections apply not only to behavior by co-workers and supervisors but also to harassment by customers,...more
Employment lawyers and most HR professionals are familiar with the Faragher-Ellerth defense to a claim of sexual harassment. In short, if an employer can show that (1) it exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct...more
In its 1998 Oncale decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that same-sex sexual harassment can violate Title VII’s gender discrimination prohibitions. However, the court noted that in order to demonstrate violation of the...more
Recently, a California company settled a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) sexual harassment lawsuit by consent decree for $3.5 million. Additionally, and as part of the settlement, the company will hire a...more
Courts have ruled that employees who work with clients with diminished capacity present different challenges when establishing whether the nonemployee’s alleged harassment affected the terms and conditions of the employee’s...more
Over the past several years, we have reported an increasing number of federal appeals court decisions that have characterized even single instances of certain racial slurs as sufficient to constitute hostile environment...more