September, 2014

New House bills seek to slow the EEOC’s roll

September 16, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Halftime of the Eagles-Colts game. So, I only have 15 minutes to crank this one out. Here we go…

Two new bills in the House to watch.

1. The Litigation Oversight Act of 2014: This bill would amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the EEOC Commissions to decide by “majority vote whether the Commission shall commence or intervene in litigation involving multiple plaintiffs, or an allegation of systemic discrimination or a pattern or practice of discrimination.”

I give this somewhere between between a snowball’s chance in hell and hell freezes over chance of passing.

2. The Certainty in Enforcement Act of 2014 would also amend Title VII to allow employers “to engage in an employment practice that is required by Federal, State, or local law, in an area such as, but not limited to, health care, childcare, in-home services, policing, security, education, finance, employee benefits, and fiduciary duties.” The intent here is to hamstring the EEOC from scrutinizing background checks of current and potential employees.

Like my daughter in a bumper car, this too shouldn’t get far.

What employers need to know about “subtle bias” before it becomes an in-your-face lawsuit

September 15, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Over the weekend, I read this CareerBuilder poll, which found that the majority of workers don’t aspire to leadership roles. Here are the numbers:

One in 5 workers (20 percent) feel his or her organization has a glass ceiling – an unseen barrier preventing women and minorities from reaching higher job levels.

However, when looking only at workers who aspire to management and senior management positions, the percentage increases to 24 percent and is even higher among females (33 percent), Hispanics (34 percent), African Americans (50 percent) and workers with disabilities (59 percent).

The kicker is that only 9% of white men think there is a glass ceiling for women and minorities at their organization. The disparity in perception is startling. The actual numbers aren’t any easier to swallow. According to this 2013 Forbes article, “only 1% of the nation’s Fortune 500 CEOs are black. Only 4% are women. And not a single one is openly gay.”

Does overt discrimination have something to do with it? I can’t point to a particular study, but I’d be foolish to say no. But, this more recent article from Jonathan Segal, highlights the effect of subtle bias on the relative lack of female and minority business leaders.

More after the jump…

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How swift response to racial slurs and graffiti defused a discrimination claim

September 12, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

You have an employee handbook, an anti-harassment policy, training, the whole nine.

But, sometimes, notwithstanding your best efforts to create a positive, respectful workplace, you receive a complaint from an employee who claims to be the victim of harassment based on [insert protected class].

All the prophylactic measures you’ve already installed mean nothing unless you respond to that complaint appropriately.

See how one company did it right, after the jump…

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The sleepy, old man with old ideas may have an age discrimination claim

September 11, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Psst.

Want the secret to spotting a potential age discrimination claim a mile away?

I’ve got it for you after the jump.

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EEOC takes on fitness-for-duty medical releases; how to avoid the crosshairs.

September 10, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Congratulations!

Your fitness-for-duty employee medical examinations are job-related or consistent with business necessity. So, they pass muster under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But, what about the medical information you request from employees in connection with those exams?

Oh yeah, there’s that too…

Ask for too much info and you might you be violating not only the ADA, but also the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act.

Rut roh! More after the jump…

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A restaurant posted LeSean McCoy’s receipt on its Facebook page

September 9, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

My mind…blown!

Yesterday, the local internet feeds were flooding us with news that Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy allegedly left a 20-cent tip at a local restaurant at which he and some friends had lunch on Monday. The “smoking gun” was a copy of what is purported to be McCoy’s lunch receipt from the restaurant.

I read “Eagles Player LeSean McCoy Just Left a 20-Cent Tip at PYT” on PhillyMag.com, and “LeSean McCoy tips 20 cents at PYT. The restaurant, PYT, even posted about it on its own Facebook page, complete with a copy of the supposed McCoy receipt.

Apparently, the ADA requires accommodating an employee’s anger issues with a Shih Tzu named “Sugar Bear”

September 8, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Hey, I don’t make this stuff up. I just blog about it.

More after the jump…

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Final Score: HIPAA 1 – Retaliation 0

September 5, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

See how a federal appellate court shut out a plaintiff’s claims of retaliation after she was fired for forwarding confidential documents to herself, purportedly to preserve evidence for an age-discrimination lawsuit filed by a former coworker.

What I did there, you see that?

After the jump…

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