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Articles Posted in Gender

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“Off-the-clock” discriminatory Facebook messages can create a hostile work environment

As I type this post, I’m watching two of my kids — one dressed as Olaf; the other Elsa — yelling at each other to stop singing Frozen tunes. Now, they’re wrestling — I don’t remember that from the movie. For a snowman, that Olaf is pretty tough. Oh, damn!…

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EEOC scores a major victory for transgender rights

Last September, for the first time ever, the EEOC sued two private employers for discriminating against employees who had transitioned from one gender to another. One of those cases settled last week for $150K. Yesterday, the other action survived the employer’s motion to dismiss the case. Now, the federal court deciding…

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Was the Ellen Pao gender bias trial a wakeup call or snooze for businesses?

I intended to begin the week with a post about a company’s legal obligation to predict — yes, predict — an employee’s mental fitness for duty. Then, I started on a brief tangent on Ellen Pao, the former partner of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, who just lost a highly-publicized gender discrimination claim against said…

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#SOTU and the #Workplace: A full debriefing of last night’s Presidential address

I had every intention of watching the President address the Nation last night. I really did. But, then I got sucked into the Director’s Cut of The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island, the one where the Washington Generals show up first and replace all the confetti with lice. Then poor Lovie…

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Is it discrimination to favor a workplace shortie (shawtie?) over her male subordinates?

Because all the other blogs will say “paramour” or “lover”  in the lede, and I need to remain relevant (or “down,” if you will) with my more trendy readers. Over the weekend, I read this case in which a male plaintiff alleged discrimination because his supervisor was allegedly schtupping a…

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When the supervisor offers an employee $$$ to have sex with his wife, that’s not gender bias, you guys

Terribly sorry about the confusion created by my sloppy use of possessive pronouns in today’s lede. The “his” wife refers to the employee’s wife. Otherwise, this post doesn’t make any sense, does it? (Don’t spend too much time contemplating the question, ok). Yep, just another Tuesday at The Employer Handbook.…

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Judge dismisses “Borgata Babes'” claims of weight discrimination

Sex sells. So, when 22 female cocktail servers at an Atlantic City casino pursued claims of discrimination based on their appearance, it came as little shock to me that the judge wasn’t buying. Last month, a New Jersey state court dismissed a lawsuit against the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa,…

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Court countenances canning complainers of consensual canoodling

In Centucky Kentucky, it’s not retaliation to fire employees who complain about sexual favoritism. Then again making apple-pie moonshine and using a butcher cleaver to slice off the arm of a Detroit gangster isn’t frowned upon either. At least, that’s what watching Justified teaches me. But even in Kentucky, they…