Drop and Give Me Thirty (Or Fourteen If You’re a Woman)—Is This Discrimination?

the situation Physical fitness is a necessary component for certain jobs in your organization and so you develop a physical fitness assessment for prospective employees. Based on a thorough analysis of gender norms and abilities, you determine specific standards—which are different for men and women. A male is unable to complete one of the tasks […]

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Transgender Employee Fired for Clear Policy Violation—Is Employer Still At Risk For Title VII Claim?

the situation An employee informs you that she is going through a gender transition and then a few months later you catch her sleeping on the clock. After you terminate her (just like you have terminated others who engaged in similar conduct), she claims that you discriminated against her based upon her sex in violation […]

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Pregnant Employee? Reassignment of Duties Could Land You in Hot Water

the situation A female employee whose job involves some potentially dangerous activities announces she is pregnant. Thinking you are doing her and her unborn child a favor, you reassign some of her more unsafe duties to other employees. Could you end up facing a discrimination claim?

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Move to Smaller Office Could Support Discrimination Claim

In order to make a claim under Section 1981, an employee must be able to show that he or she suffered an adverse employment action—but there can be some dispute as to what constitutes an adverse employment action. In a recent case, a district court in New York found that a school district’s relocation of […]

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Differing Discipline for Facebook Comments May be Discrimination

In today’s digital culture, employers are well advised to have social media policies which hopefully prevent employees from posting things that reflect poorly on the employer. But the question of how to apply some of these policies is unfamiliar territory. For example, how do you determine what kinds of comments warrant discipline? And how do […]

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Stray Remarks by De Facto Decisionmaker Support Discrimination Claim

When is an employer liable for “stray” remarks? How connected do the stray remarks need to be to the adverse employment action? Earlier this summer, the Second Circuit reversed a district court’s award of summary judgment to an employer on a discrimination claim involving stray remarks in a denial of tenure case where the remarks […]

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EEOC Rules– Sexual Orientation Discrimination Equals Sex Discrimination under Title VII

On July 15, 2015, the EEOC clarified that, at least for claims made against the federal government, all complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation constitute sex discrimination claims under Title VII. Baldwin v. Foxx, Secretary, Dept. of Transportation, EEOC Appeal No. 0120133080. The case involved David Baldwin, an air traffic controller who filed an […]

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Transgender former police officer states a claim under Title VII-but fails to show sufficient evidence of discrimination

Last week, the district court ruled that although discrimination based on transgender status was a cognizable claim under Title VII, the plaintiff had failed to demonstrate that the rejection of her application to be part of a volunteer mounted patrol was discriminatory. Finkle v. Howard County, Maryland, Case No. SAG-13-3236 (D. Md. June 12, 2015).

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Can the EEOC come after your company without at least trying to resolve the matter?

Not without at least complying with its duty to attempt to conciliate the matter. In a unanimous decision issued last week, the Supreme Court held that courts have the authority to review whether the EEOC has fulfilled its obligations under Title VII to attempt conciliation. Mach Mining, LLC v. EEOC, No, 13-1019 (April 29, 2015). […]

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Instagram intel—can an employer use it?

Let’s say one of your employees has a tendency to call in sick on Fridays when it just so happens to be 72 degrees and sunny out. Another employee reports to you that last Friday, that same worker posted a picture of herself on Instagram at a nearby water park, despite the fact that she […]

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