Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Sexual harassment, bathroom, and pronouns
"Sex-based harassment includes harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including … repeated and intentional use of a name or pronoun inconsistent with the individual’s known gender identity … or the denial of access to a bathroom or other sex-segregated facility consistent with the individual’s gender identity."
That the official position of the EEOC in its just released, Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace.
EEOC Commissioner Andrea Lucas disagrees. She voted against the final guidance. She believes that the bathroom guidance is an "assault on women's sex-based privacy and safety," and the pronoun guidance is an assault on "speech and belief rights."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, March 6, 2024
“DEI” is not a 4-letter word
"DEI" is not a 4-letter word … no matter what some people want you to believe.
Companies such as Sherwin-Williams are scrapping their internal use of the words "Diversity," "Equity," and "Inclusion," and are replacing them with words such as "Belonging" and "Culture."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, February 1, 2024
Whether you like it or not, it’s illegal to discriminate against transgender employees
“Do you have female parts?”
“If I just say ‘she’, that’s what she is.”
Those are among the allegations that the EEOC made against T.C. Wheelers Bar & Pizzeria on behalf of Quinn Gambino, a transgender man the restaurant employed as a cook. Mr. Gambino complained to management about the harassment, but it continued unabated.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, December 18, 2023
Denying gender-affirming health care to transgender employees is unlawful discrimination
Morgan Mesi, a transgender man, has just sued his former employer, Tenzing Wine & Spirits, along with his labor union and group health plan, claiming that they discriminated against him because of his sex by denying medical insurance coverage for gender-affirming care.
To me, Bostock v. Clayton Cty. clearly resolves this issue. In Bostock, SCOTUS held that Title VII's prohibition of sex discrimination also prohibits discrimination because of an employee's sexual orientation or gender identity. Indeed, Bostock could not have been clearer regarding the treatment of transgender employees: "[a]n individual's … transgender status is not relevant to employment decisions."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, December 6, 2023
It’s illegal for gay people to discriminate against straight people … just not on these facts in this case
There is no such thing as "reverse" discrimination. Discrimination is discrimination, whether the victim is, for example, Black or white, female or male, gay or straight. When the employee claiming discrimination is in the majority, however, in the 6th Circuit they must not only show disparate treatment, but also must show "background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, October 11, 2023
“Misgendering” is NOT a thought-crime
The EEOC is NOT trying to make "misgendering" a thought-crime.
In response, Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, Director of the Conscience Project, wrote an op-ed on thehill.com taking the EEOC to task for its alleged "thought-policing."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Friday, September 22, 2023
WIRTW #688: the “(not) Progressives” edition
According to the plaintiff, the first four years of his employment at Progressive were without incident, until he informed his supervisor of his intent to transition from female to male. That's when he alleges the mistreatment began, and continued for the final four years of his employment until he quit.
Transgender people are under attack. This lawsuit is a symptom of a much larger problem in workplaces across our country. Trans employees often experience discrimination, harassment, and a lack of understanding, including from their work colleagues and bosses. As an employer, it is important to create a safe and inclusive environment for all employees, including those who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming. Otherwise, you just might find yourself at a receiving end of a well-deserved and difficult-to-defend lawsuit. Just ask Progressive Insurance.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, August 9, 2023
$2.6 million reasons why it’s illegal to fire a gay employee
Yesterday, a federal jury in Columbus returned a $2.6 million verdict in favor of Stacey Yerkes, a former Ohio State Highway Patrol employee who claimed that she was constructively discharged (forced to quit based on intolerable and unreasonable working conditions) because of her sexual orientation.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Color me unsurprised that businesses are already using 303 Creative to discriminate
If a human identifies as anything other than a man/woman, please seek services at a local pet groomer. You are not welcome at this salon. Period.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, June 1, 2023
10 ways to support your LGBTQ employees #pride
Today is the first day of Pride Month. June might be Pride Month, but your business should commit to and support its LGBTQ employees 24/7/365. Here are 10 ideas that incorporate this inclusion and demonstrate your support of your LGBTQ workers.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Uber suspends DEI exec over “Don’t Call Me Karen” events
Uber has suspended its longtime head of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Bo Young Lee, after Black and Hispanic employees complained that an event she ran — titled "Don't Call Me Karen" — was insensitive to people of color.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, April 27, 2023
Intentional misgendering IS sexual harassment
Jane works as a cashier at a donut shop. She is a transgender female who identifies by a female name and female pronouns. Her supervisor, Lisa, however, refuses to use Jane's preferred gender. She uses Jane's male legal name, male pronouns, and "dude" when referring to her, despite Jane's frequent requests for her to use female pronouns and the preferred female name. Lisa would similarly encourage customers not to use Jane's preferred name or pronouns.
Did Lisa create a hostile work environment based on Jane's sex?
You bet she did.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, April 10, 2023
7th Circuit decides the issue of religious rights vs. trans rights … and trans rights won
I really wanted to move on this week from writing about transgender rights. But then the 7th Circuit had to go and decide that a student's right to be called by his or her preferred gender trumps a teacher's religious accommodation request not to do so.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Trans lives are human lives, and anti-LGBTQIA+ hate is wrong
"Dirty, f**got-loving motherf**ker." That's what someone yelled at me after I answered my office phone yesterday. I wish I knew who it was, but they chose to hide behind a blocked phone number.
For the past two days, I've posted about how employers can better support their transgender employees. Coincidence doesn't always equal causation, but in this case, I have to believe my posts and that awful phone call are linked.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, April 4, 2023
5 tips to help support our trans employees in the workplace
Transgender people are under attack. They often experience discrimination, harassment, and a lack of understanding, including from their work colleagues and bosses. As an employer, it is important to create a safe and inclusive environment for all employees, including those who identify as transgender or gender nonconforming.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, April 3, 2023
We are failing our trans employees
"You're not a real man."
"Do you have female parts?"
The agency further alleges that management and co-workers made numerous other anti-transgender comments, including intentionally misgendering Gambino by using female pronouns and equating being transgender with pedophilia.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Employee harassed after coming out at work loses harassment lawsuit
After an employee comes out at work as gay, he alleges that co-workers left him pink nail polish, a nail file, and bath bombs, that someone posted Bible verses on his desk, and that he was moved to an isolated corner of the office.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, December 19, 2022
Your religion isn’t a license to discriminate (but we may need to accommodate you anyway)
Pronouns confuse me. It's not that I want to misgender anyone. In fact, quite to the contrary, I try really hard to get people's pronouns correct when addressing them or speaking about them. To me, it's a simple matter of common decency. My efforts to get them correct, however, doesn't mean that they still don't confuse me. When I grew up, I learned that "they" refers to a group of people. Thus, when someone refers to someone else as "they," my brains says, "more than one." It's just difficult, but I still try to get it right.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, June 13, 2022
LGBTQ+ rights vs. religious liberty
"It's an abomination to God. Rainbow is not meant to be displayed as a sign for sexual gender."
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, April 28, 2022
Series of promotions dooms gay brewery employee’s sex discrimination claim
Midland Brewing Company hired Ryan Boshaw to work as a server. Over the span of nine months, it promoted him three times, to an hourly managerial position, to floor leader, and ultimately to front-of-house operations manager (the second highest ranking position in the business).
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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