Discrimination & Harassment

Subscribe to Discrimination & Harassment via RSS

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated the guidance document titled “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act and Other EEO Laws” on April 23, 2020 to address employer testing for COVID-19 in the workplace.  The EEOC’s guidance document is a series of technical questions and answers geared…

Two years ago, the first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Pennsylvania.  Since that time, well over a hundred thousand Pennsylvania residents have become certified to use medical marijuana, additional conditions were added to the listed of qualifying serious health conditions and employers started to field questions from employees who wanted to use (or already were…

Prior to July 2nd, New Jersey’s Medical Cannabis Act lacked protections for employees’ off-duty medical marijuana use.  Indeed, last year the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held that nothing in the Medical Cannabis Act “requires an employer to waive a drug test as a condition of employment for federally-prohibited…

As explained in Part 1 of this four-part series, we are exploring some of the more recent state law developments addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. Since the #MeToo movement began over a year ago, there have been various reactions from employees, employers and state legislatures. Employees have reacted by filing more internal and external…

There have been a variety of responses to the #MeToo movement since it began a little over a year ago. Employees have responded by filing more internal and external complaints.  In fact, in early October the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its fiscal year 2018 statistics regarding workplace harassment.  Among other things, the data…

Perhaps the most significant EEO issue percolating through the federal court system right now is whether Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination encompasses discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.  There is now disagreement among federal appellate courts on this issue and the U.S. Supreme Court will likely decide the question at…

On June 6, 2018, Governor Wolf signed Executive Order 2018-18-03, which is designed to combat the gender pay gap in Pennsylvania. The Executive Order directs all state agencies under the governor’s jurisdiction to:

  • no longer inquire about a job applicant’s current compensation or compensation history at any stage during the hiring process;
  • base salaries on

…

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that discrimination against transgender/LBGTQ employees is discrimination on the basis of sex that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc.  Moreover, the court held that the employer could not use the Religious…

In the months since the Harvey Weinstein scandal, there have been countless efforts to raise awareness of workplace sexual harassment.  Actresses donned black dresses at the Golden Globe Awards earlier this month to promote #MeToo and the related Time’s Up initiative.  Last weekend, the music industry’s elite carried white roses at the Grammy Awards to…