Posts Tagged ‘workplace discrimination’
WHAT’S NEW IN 2017
Employers May Not Request Juvenile Criminal History in Employment Application California restricts the type of questions employers may ask job applicants about their criminal history. Employers may not request information about a felony or serious criminal misdemeanor which has been judicially expunged, dismissed or ordered sealed and employers may only seek information about criminal convictions […]
IT’S ALL RELATIVE
Employees with Disabled Family Members Are Protected from “Associational” Discrimination For some 15 years, Luis Castro-Ramirez was the only family member qualified to administer daily dialysis treatments to his ailing son. When Dependable Highway Express, Inc. (DHE) hired Castro-Ramirez in December 2009, his supervisors accommodated his request for morning shifts so that he would arrive […]
CALIFORNIA 2015 ANNUAL REPORT HIGHLIGHTS WORKPLACE RETALIATION AND SEX DISCRIMINATION TRENDS
The California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH) has published its annual statistical report on unlawful workplace discrimination, harassment and retaliation charges filed in 2015. Individuals filed 17,915 complaints with DFEH last year, up a few hundred from the 2014 total. Many contained multiple accusations. Retaliation, disability and sex-based grievances top the 2015 list, […]
CHANGING TIMES DEPARTMENT
New Definition of Spouse Under Federal Family Medical Leave Act Now Includes Same Sex Couples Prior to 2013, same sex spouses had no FMLA leave benefits regardless of whether their residence state recognized same sex marriages. However, U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in U.S. v. Windsor struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act which […]
PREVENTING WORKPLACE BULLYING
Abusive Conduct Prevention Training Now Required Every Two Years Effective January 1, 2015, a California employer must include prevention of abusive conduct as a component of legally-mandated sexual harassment training and education. (Assembly Bill [AB] 2053). Existing law requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide at least two hours of interactive training and […]
ANGER MANAGEMENT
Jerks, Introverts and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Weaving v. City of Hillsboro The ability of employers to follow the law – and of judges to enforce it – depends on clearly defined standards of responsibility and conduct. Vaguely or otherwise poorly stated rules can lead to inconsistent outcomes in very similar factual situations. This […]
DISCRIMINATION AND RETALIATION CLAIMS
An Employer’s Lesson In Thorough Documentation In Los Angeles County, it is not uncommon to see 100 lawsuits filed weekly against employers for alleged unlawful discrimination or retaliation, often both in the same complaint. One could say that unless a business knows and applies the important basics in preventing such expensive and time-consuming claims, it […]
EMPLOYER DUTIES TO FIGHT RELIGIOUS PREJUDICE
Companies Must Uphold Worker Rights to Religious Garb or Grooming Even if It Means Losing Business The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing the federal laws prohibiting discrimination in commerce, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, nicknamed “Title VII.” In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the EEOC has fielded […]
EMPLOYER WINS BATTLE BUT LOSES WAR
Company Ordered To Pay Worker’s $700,000 Attorney Bill United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) essentially “won” an age discrimination case when a California jury awarded an ex-employee only $27,280 in damages. That relative victory was short-lived, erased by the trial judge awarding the worker $700,000 for her attorney fees. The appeals court recently upheld this decision. […]
EEOC’S RECORD YEAR
More Than $372 Million Recovered In Workplace Discrimination Claims Despite staffing cuts, hiring freezes and sequestration woes, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recovered a record $372.1 million for its private sector workplace discrimination charges — $6.7 million more than it recovered the year prior. The EEOC enforces federal anti-discrimination in employment laws. According […]