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…
Exactly one month ago, I addressed what many consider to be the elephant in the room when it comes to transgender employees: bathroom use. On Wednesday, EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum fired off a series of tweets (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) to lawyers representing employers and employees. Below (and…
On my speaking boondoggles around the country, what’s the biggest issue I hear from HR professionals involving transgender employees? Yep, it’s the use of the bathroom. Folks, it’s not that complicated. But, I’ll get to that in a sec. First, with a tip of the hat to Joshua Block (@JoshACLU), over…
Over the weekend, I joined a Facebook thread discussing a recent federal court complaint filed in Texas by a former Saks employee, Leyth O. Jamal. Ms. Jamal claims that Saks violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against her because she is transsexual. Saks claims (here) that…
Under federal law (Title VII), employers cannot discriminate because of one’s sex. While Title VII does not explicitly coverage transgender employees (i.e., someone born female who presents male, and vice-versa; also known as gender identity), the EEOC’s position is that transgender employees are protected too. Indeed, they’ve begun filing federal…
Even without a federal law that specifically bans discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation or gender identify, it’s no secret that one of the EEOC’s top priorities is to protect LGBT workers from discrimination. And the EEOC is being quite transparent about it, with a new guide for…
And here I just got finished telling an audience yesterday at the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was dead. Guess I was wrong. More on this after the jump… * * * Last November, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would amend Title VII to forbid LGBT…
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…
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on a number of protected classes. Sexual orientation isn’t one of those protected classes specifically listed in the statute. So, if an employee complains about sexual-orientation harassment and is later fired because she complained, then that won’t create…
According to a Friday report from Cynthia L. Hackerott at Wolters Kluwer, President Obama will sign an Executive Order today banning discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors. Last month, I blogged here that the White House had announced that it intended to eventually ban LGBT discrimination by federal contractors…