In 2015, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined that a federal agency that denied an employee equal access to a common bathroom/facility corresponding to the employee’s gender identity discriminated based on sex and could not restrict a transgender employee to a single-user restroom. About five years later, the Supreme…
In the past week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has brought two lawsuits against employers that allegedly violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against transgender employees. In one of the lawsuits, the EEOC claims that a transgender employee complained that she believed a manager had…
Let’s start with what you probably know already — especially if you are an employment lawyer. To prevail on a hostile work environment claim, a plaintiff must show that she was harassed based on some protected class. In plain English, enduring hostile behavior isn’t enough. A woman alleging a hostile…
A staffing company allegedly fulfilling a customer’s discriminatory hiring practices learned this lesson the hard way. Two years ago, the EEOC announced that it had sued a staffing company that allegedly honored requests that some business clients made over several years to fill positions with only male workers. The EEOC…
Yesterday, we addressed the risks of not letting HR do its job by investigating sexual harassment complaints. Today, we’ll discuss a recent decision underscoring the importance of thoroughly investigating employee complaints. Ironically, the subject of the investigation was an HR supervisor. One of her subordinates complained to the HR Supervisor’s…
If your business provides a self-funded health insurance plan to its employees, that health plan covers “medically necessary” services, and you’re not keen on defending sex discrimination claims, then keep reading. Yesterday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that an employer cannot exclude coverage for…
Readers of this blog know that the EEOC recently finalized its new workplace harassment guidance and that one of the contentious issues in the guidance, according to a dissenting EEOC Commissioner, is the EEOC’s position that misgendering an employee, e.g., by consistently using the wrong pronouns, can violate Title VII.…
Have you ever heard of me-too evidence? Plaintiffs in discrimination cases may attempt to introduce me-too evidence to the jury to establish that the same harasser directed the same acts of discrimination or harassment against other employees. This evidence helps demonstrate a pattern or practice of misconduct that makes their own…
Suppose an employer transfers an employee, and that employee believes that unlawful bias fueled the decision. Does that transfer have to significantly disadvantage that employee to give rise to a discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? The Supreme Court addressed that issue yesterday in…
A white man filed a lawsuit against a company claiming that it denied him a high-six-figure executive position because of his race, age, and sex so that the company could search for more diverse candidates. Among the causes of action he asserted was one for race discrimination under 42 U.S.C.…
