Employment Law Blog
Seventh Circuit Joins Other Courts in Rejecting ADEA Impact Claims by Job Applicants
January 29, 2019
On January 23, 2019, a majority of the Seventh Circuit ruled in an en banc decision that the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) does not permit disparate impact challenges to employers’ hiring practices. See Kleber v. CareFusion Corp., 2019 WL 290241 (7th Cir. Jan. 23, 2019). In reaching this conclusion, the...
Does it Matter that the Supreme Court has Agreed to Review Fort Bend County v. Davis?
January 29, 2019
UPDATE: The Supreme Court unanimously held that the administrative charge filing requirement in the federal employment discrimination statutes is not a jurisdictional requirement. That means that while filing a charge is still required, if a plaintiff fails to file or fails to put all of her claims or allegations in...
Google Employees Confront Widespread Sexual Harassment and Discrimination
December 18, 2018
The MeToo movement has led to a much-need reckoning with the effects of misogyny and unchecked power in a variety of sectors across the country, from Hollywood to political institutions. As part of this movement, technology giants have been forced to face the conditions of their industry, which is rife with sexism, sexual...
EEOC, NLRB Differ over Confidentiality of Workplace Sexual Harassment Investigations
September 13, 2018
The latest report and proposed guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on how employers should respond to sexual harassment in the workplace have raised questions about the confidentiality of investigations. Although the EEOC recommends that employers maintain the confidentiality of internal...
Rideshare Services Rescind Arbitration Requirements in Cases of Sexual Assault and Harassment. But There’s Still Work to Do.
August 23, 2018
Since the New Yorker published its article exposing Harvey Weinstein’s rampant sexual harassment in October last year, the #MeToo movement has shined a national spotlight on our institutions’ failures to protect and empower survivors of sexual harassment and assault. As the public has learned more about how the legal...
Maternal Walls and Glass Ceilings in the #MeToo Era
July 26, 2018
Women’s advancement in the workplace is often obstructed by invisible barriers. “Maternal walls” – erected on assumptions that women will eventually become pregnant and either leave the workforce or become less productive after having children – regularly channel women into lower paying jobs during their childbearing years. And...
EEOC Pushes Boundaries of Harassment Liability in Select Staffing Lawsuit
June 29, 2018
Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit on behalf of female employees of Select Staffing, a temporary staffing agency operating in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who were sexually harassed during their job placements with the Albuquerque Police Department Inspection of Public Records Act...
Changes to Sexual Harassment Law Could Help Victims in NYC, Minnesota
June 13, 2018
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, several states and localities have proposed or enacted workplace protections that are more robust than Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal statute prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace. As a general rule, federal employment law sets a “floor”—that is, the minimum...
Salary History Not a Defense to Equal Pay Act Claims, 9th Circuit Says
May 16, 2018
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a landmark decision in the decades-long fight against the sex-based pay gap, holding that the Equal Pay Act (the “Act”) forbids employers from considering an employee’s salary history when setting the employee’s compensation. This decision provides an immediate...
Will Nixing Arbitration in Sexual Harassment Claims Affect Other Employment Claims?
May 1, 2018
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, lawmakers and employers across the country seeking to avoid public scorn are taking steps that benefit employees who experience sexual harassment in the workplace. For instance, in December 2017, the major U.S. technology company Microsoft announced it will no longer require employees to...
