Archive for the ‘Discrimination, Harassment & Retaliation’ Category
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 37
Dalit girl, Andhra Pradesh, India, May 12, 2005 Photo from Wikimedia Commons Published without changes under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. WORKPLACE CULTURE CLASH CALIFORNIA CHALLENGES CISCO SYSTEMS FOR COLOR (“CASTE-BASED”) DISCRIMINATION On June 30, 2020, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed suit against Cisco Systems, Inc. (Cisco) […]
OLDER FOLKS ARE PEOPLE TOO
Expanded Federal Pandemic Guidelines Allow Favorable Treatment for Aged 65-Plus Personnel The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) June 17 update of COVID-related guidelines (June 17 Update) offers first-time protocols for the management of aged 65-plus workers in pandemic times under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). COVID-19’s unprecedented circumstances have led the EEOC […]
MINISTERS AND MESSENGERS
Supreme Court Removes Discrimination Protections for a Wide Range of Church-Affiliated Employees To a degree, the First Amendment shields religious institutions from government involvement in employment disputes. The U.S. Supreme has recently broadened that protection to potentially place hundreds of thousands of parochial school teachers and other church-affiliated workers outside the reach of workplace discrimination laws. Our […]
WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION: OLD DEFINITION NEW MEANING
The Supreme Court’s “Unexpected” Expansion of Equal Rights for Gay and Transgender Employees The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is America’s foremost protection against employment discrimination (also known as “Title VII”). Yet, for more than five decades, courts have applied this law to preserve such “equal rights” only for some, and decidedly not for homosexual or transgender persons. No […]
KNOW YOUR BOUNDARIES
New Employer Restrictions on Hiring Notices and Interviews Starting July 1, 2020 California law prohibits discrimination against applicants and employees for their membership in any protected class, including religious creed, disability and age (40+). The California Fair Employment and Housing Council (FEHC) has issued new regulations effective July 1, 2020, to better protect such individuals. Advertisements. The […]
ABOLISHING WORKPLACE BIGOTRY: A WORK IN PROGRESS
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and its federal counterpart, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, are designed to protect employees from unlawful discrimination. The FEHA also established the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) to investigate, mediate and prosecute workplace discrimination complaints. It is the largest state civil rights agency in the […]
BLACK HISTORY MONTH: DREAM + COURAGE = REALITY
Asa Philip Randolph, 1963 March on Washington, August 28, 1963, Leads to the First National Anti-Discrimination Protection Over 200,000 demonstrators took part in the August 28, 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The event’s impact – famously known for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech – lead to the […]
WHAT’S NEW IN 2020 TIME’S UP, EXTENDED
Longer Three-Year Deadline For Initiating Discrimination Claims Targets of workplace discrimination, harassment and retaliation prohibited by California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) now have three years (up from the previous one year) to file a claim with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) against the subject employer. A person claiming such wrongful […]
BOSS SAUCED
Senior Managers Must Prevent Supervisor Harassment, Discrimination It is illegal for employers to discriminate against or harass employees because of age, national origin, and other protected classifications. An employer that terminates an employee for such reasons can anticipate a lawsuit for wrongful termination. Also, an employee resignation due to a discriminatory work environment created or […]
CAUTIONARY TALES EPISODE 35
OVER THE BORDERLINE State Agency Settles Sex and National Origin Discrimination Case for $450,0000 On July 26, 2019 the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) announced the $450,000 settlement of a sexual harassment, national origin and retaliation case against Pioneer Pines Mobile Home Park. The complainant, a female employee of Mexican descent who […]