Thursday, February 27, 2020
PLEASE, I’m freaking begging you, DO NOT use social media to determine applicants’ race and gender
Almost as long as social media has existed, employers have searched social media to dig up dirt on prospective employees. There is nothing illegal about these searches … provided you don’t use the information unlawfully. For example, to discriminate on the basis of a protected class.
If Lisa McCarrick, a former Amazon manager, wins her lawsuit against the online retailer, Amazon is going to learn this lesson the hard way.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, November 18, 2019
Gay man claims he’s the victim of intentional discrimination because of his sexual orientation … and that’s the least of his employer’s problems
Wesley Wernecke, an ex-employee of New York event planning company Eventique, claims in his recently filed lawsuit that the company intentionally alienated him, ostracized him, and shut him out of the business after its CEO learned Wernecke was gay.
NBC News shares the details of the allegations in Wernecke’s lawsuit.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, October 22, 2019
What’s really at stake when the Supreme Court decides LGBTQ rights under Title VII
Sometime next Spring the Supreme Court will announce its decision on whether Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination implicitly includes LGBTQ employees. It’s poised to be the biggest employment law case of the past three decades. And not just because LGBTQ discrimination is such a hot-button, high-profile issue.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Poor taste does not amount to prohibited sexual harassment.
I once made the mistake of watching an episode of Orange is the New Black on an airplane. The guy sitting behind was very uncomfortably enjoying the show along with me, and I shut it down.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Why are so many employers discriminating against lactating moms?
Women were told to pump in their manager’s office or a meeting room without locks, where they were walked in on repeatedly. Many had to pump in view of security cameras. In two separate cases, restaurant workers were instructed to pump behind the bread racks, leaving them partly visible to colleagues and customers.
Those who do find an appropriate space often don’t receive the time they need to fully empty their breasts. A McDonald’s worker was yelled at and ordered to return to work before she was done pumping. A Family Dollar worker asked for more time to pump and got demoted to part-time. A spa employee was required to sign a piece of paper agreeing that she wouldn’t take any more breaks. Her inability to pump caused her to leak milk from her breasts while she worked.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, September 17, 2019
It’s illegal to refuse to hire men, even if you’re a sex store
The EEOC has sued Sactacular Holdings, LLC d/b/a Adam & Eve for sex discrimination for refusing to hire male applicants. What is Adam & Eve? The EEOC’s news release describes it as a “North Carolina limited liability company.” The more accurate description? According to its (NSFW) website, it’s “the leader in the lingerie and adult boutique market.”
How did it discriminate?
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, September 10, 2019
The supposed #MeToo backlash is just discrimination by another name
A recent study suggests that there has been a backlash against the #MeToo movement.
According to the Harvard Business Review, men have are treating their females co-workers differently because of #MeToo.
- 19% of men said they were reluctant to hire attractive women
- 21% said they were reluctant to hire women for jobs involving close interactions with men
- 27% said they avoided one-on-one meetings with female colleagues
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, August 28, 2019
This is what sex discrimination will look like if the Department of Justice gets its wish to legalize sex stereotyping
Last week the Department of Justice (on behalf of its client, the EEOC), filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to conclude that “sex stereotyping by itself is not a Title VII violation.”
What might this look like if the DOJ gets its wish?
Consider the following story (as told on Reddit).
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
The EEOC asks the Supreme Court to legalize sex discrimination
This fall, the Supreme Court will hear argument in three cases to decide whether Title VII’s coverage of sex discrimination also implicitly protects LGBTQ employees from discrimination. Last week, the EEOC filed its brief in the cases, making a startling argument in favor of legalizing not just LGBTQ discrimination, but all sex discrimination.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, August 6, 2019
It is an inexcusable sin for an employer NOT to have an anti-discrimination policy
There are some employment policies that you can get away with not having. An anti-discrimination policy is not one of them.
In Hubbell v. FedEx SmartPost (decided yesterday by the 6th Circuit), FedEx learned this lesson the hard way.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, July 29, 2019
#MeToo hasn’t killed the office romance, just the inappropriate ones
According to the National Review, #MeToo killed the office romance.
It must be a brave soul who dares to strike up a flirtatious conversation at the workplace microwave these days. Only ten percent of Americans report having met their mate at the office, a level that is half what it was in the 1990s.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, July 22, 2019
Parental discrimination claims pose big risks for employers
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, July 8, 2019
Why, yesterday, in France was a stadium full of people chanting “EQUAL PAY?”
Indisputable fact no. 1: Women and men should earn the same pay for the same work.
Indisputable fact no. 2: The players on the United States women’s national soccer team earn substantially less than their counterparts on the men’s team.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Monday, June 3, 2019
Thorough internal investigation saves employer from discrimination claim
Open and shut discrimination case? Not quite.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, May 16, 2019
Abortion discrimination = pregnancy discrimination
Thanks to, among other states, Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio (sorry about that last one), the debate over abortion is raging. Suppose you are staunchly anti-abortion, and you learn that one of your employees is considering, or has had, an abortion. Can you fire her?
Thus far, three courts have looked at this issue, and all three courts have all reached the same conclusion.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Thursday, February 14, 2019
When the rumor mill creates a sexually hostile work environment
Just in time for Valentine's Day, I bring you the story of a employee rumored to be sleeping with her boss to get a promotion. She wasn't, but the workplace rumor mill sure thought she was.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Gillette's toxic masculinity ad isn't the problem; toxic masculinity is the problem
Gillette is facing a lot of praise, and a lot of backlash, over its recent ad slamming toxic masculinity culture.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Wednesday, January 9, 2019
What does it mean for jobs to be "substantially equal" under the Equal Pay Act?
The Equal Pay Act requires that an employer pay its male and female employees equal pay for equal work. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. Substantial equality is measured by job content, not job titles.
The Act is a strict liability law, which means that intent does not matter. If a women is paid less than male for substantially similar work, then the law has been violated, regardless of the employer's intent.
A recently filed case out of Boston delves into these issues.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Training won't fix stupid
A fast-food restaurant fired a recently hired employee after its manager learned she was pregnant.
How do we know this was the manager's reason for the termination? Because he texted it to the employee (which she later posted on Facebook).
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Temporary employees have permanent legal rights
Temporary employees do not leave their legal rights at your door. In fact, they enjoy the same rights as your permanent employees.
Consider, for example, EEOC v. Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA, in which an employer recently agreed to pay $65,000 to settle claims brought by a temporary employee that she was subjected to a sexually hostile work environment and fired after repeatedly complaining about it.
The allegations are not pretty.
LaToya Young began working as a temp at Massimo Zanetti in late January 2015. Within 10 days of starting her placement, a male co-worker began making sexually harassing comments to her:
- Telling Young that he had "blue balls" and asking her "Why don’t you help me out with that?"
- Telling Young that he wanted to "suck [her] bottom lip."
- Telling Young that he wanted to have sex with her, often using lewd language.
- Telling Young that he imagined himself engaging in sexual relations with her.
- Telling Young that he would "ball [her] up like a pretzel" and would "have [her] screaming."
- Grabbing his groin area while looking directly at her.
- Blowing kisses at her.
- Licking his lips and biting his bottom lip while looking at her.
Young complained three times to her supervisor. The harassment continued unabated after the first complaint. After the second complaint, Young alleges that her supervisor warned her that going to HR "would jeopardize her employment." After the third complaint, she was fired.
Take heed of this lesson. Your temporary employees have the same civil rights as your permanent employees.
For more information, contact Jon at (440) 695-8044 or JHyman@Wickenslaw.com.
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