Sometimes the merits don't matter. And that's exactly the point.
Imagine you walk into court with what appears to be a strong case. The law is on your side. The facts are on your side. Even the judge seems...
Topic: discrimination
DOJ's attack on disparate impact gets Title VII exactly backwards
By Jon Hyman
The Department of Justice just issued a legal opinion claiming that disparate impact liability is unconstitutional because it supposedly ...
Unpaid leave is an ADA reasonable accommodation; it just can't be the only one you offer
By Jon Hyman
If your ADA accommodation policy starts with "take unpaid leave," you're doing it wrong. Just ask the 15 Dunkin' Donuts fr...
The EEOC's new Enforcement Plan is way more politics than strategy
By Jon Hyman
The EEOC has replaced its 2024-2028 Strategic Enforcement Plan with a new National Enforcement Plan for 2025-2029 . The change is more than ...
🎶 With my mind on my Title VII and Title VII on my mind. 🎶
By Jon Hyman
Barbie Bassett, a longtime white news anchor for WLBT, lost her job after two on-air comments her employer deemed racially offensive. First,...
Can you harass someone for being American?
By Jon Hyman
The EEOC does not file many lawsuits. It receives tens of thousands of discrimination charges every year but litigates only a tiny fraction ...
COVID-era remote work doesn't make telework a permanent ADA accommodation requirement
By Jon Hyman
Remote work isn't the ADA accommodation silver bullet employees think it is. The 5th Circuit just drove that point home in Hayes v. GSt...
The EEOC just gave employers an (inadvertent) roadmap on how to legally implement a DEI program
By Jon Hyman
The EEOC thinks it just filed a blockbuster anti-DEI lawsuit against The New York Times. What it actually filed is a pretty good roadmap for...
The 11th Circuit just lowered the bar on racial harassment
By Jon Hyman
A noose. A blackface doll. Hung at a Black employee's desk. If you're thinking, "that's a textbook hostile work environment...
Forced religion at work is a very bad idea
By Jon Hyman
It started with an Easter email sent agency-wide from the top: "He has risen!" The message praised Christianity as "the found...
Winning a lawsuit is not the proper measurement for the quality of your workplace
By Jon Hyman
"Lincoln may have freed the slaves, but I'm keeping you." That's what a Black legal assistant claims a law firm partner to...
Mental Health Is Now a Retention Problem. For Some Employers, It's Also a Legal One.
By Jon Hyman
One in four employees have considered quitting because of their mental health. Let that sink in. Not compensation. Not commute. Not a bad bo...
The Supreme Court lowered the bar. Employers should take notice.
By Jon Hyman
Last year, in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis , SCOTUS rewrote what counts as an "adverse employment action" under Title VII. The old...
Litigation is a strategy, not a reflex
By Jon Hyman
When an employee walks out the door holding your company's stuff hostage, you have two problems: (1) your property, and (2) the story yo...
The EEOC can't repeal Bostock, but it's sure trying
By Jon Hyman
The EEOC just voted 2–1 to hold that federal agencies may restrict bathrooms and other "intimate spaces" based on biological sex —...
Culture is what you tolerate
By Jon Hyman
We tell ourselves a comforting lie about bad behavior around sports. It's just passion. Just rivalry. Just trash talk. Until it's ra...
A wiener of a lawsuit
By Jon Hyman
A bun propped itself atop the deli counter and declared itself lunch. It was golden. Perfectly split. Structurally sound. "Look at my f...
Your ChatGPT history as a hiring test? That's a hard no.
By Jon Hyman
"Take out your phone and open your ChatGPT app. Type this prompt: 'Based on my past conversations, analyze my behavioral tendencies...
Pro tip from pop culture: Don't fire your employees while they are in the ER
By Jon Hyman
"If you fire her, she will sue you and I will testify." That's not a plaintiff's lawyer talking. That's Dr. Robby, the...
Federal court provides road map for lawful DEI programs
By Jon Hyman
I keep getting asked how employers can legally maintain DEI programs in today's political climate. A federal judge just answered that qu...