For several weeks, employment law and HR professionals have been hearing about the term “illegal DEI.” But what did “illegal DEI” actually mean—especially to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal discrimination watchdog? Until recently, that was anyone’s guess. Continue reading
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.
An employer recently learned the hard way that a proper response to an employee’s complaint of harassment involves more than simply investigating it.
I’ll explain. Continue reading
Image Credit: Photofunia.com (https://photofunia.com/results/5da05f89089f7acb5a8b4590)
Back in the early Summer of 2017, most of the experts — the pundits, if you will — were predicting that American businesses were not going to spend as much in 2018 on advice from employment law attorneys.
Then, in September 2017, along came a guy named Harvey Weinstein. Continue reading
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
More than ever, American workplaces are emphasizing diversity by targeting hires of different races, religions, ethnicities, genders, cultural and educational backgrounds, work experience, etc. This variety promotes different viewpoints, better problem-solving, a just a more dynamic workplace. Generally, this results in businesses attracting better talent, reducing turnover, and improving the brand and reputation.
But, with different backgrounds may come a different appreciation of social norms.
I have an example for you.
Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/eyes-surprise-wow-expression-open-312093/)
Yesterday morning, I read my friend Jon Hyman’s post on LinkedIn about a lawsuit in which a person of color alleged that various supervisors and managers:
Allegedly, a group of white employees also hung a sign in the workplace that said, “WHITE ONLY.” Continue reading
February was a bit of a crappy month for Uber.
Well, aside of the millions of dollars I trust they made in fares.
In late December of 2012, the EEOC approved its Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2013-2016. Sadly, one of the agency’s enforcement priorities has been ignored on this blog.
Until now.
I’m gonna pause for a sec while you go and grab a copy of your company’s employee handbook. Now open it up to the anti-harassment policy and, click through, because your world may be about to be rocked…
When an employer is faced with a sexual-harassment lawsuit, one of its best defenses is that the company took reasonable care (e.g., policy, training) to prevent sexual harassment (and then addressed complaints in a manner that is reasonably designed to end the sexual harassment)
In EEOC v. Spud Seller (opinion here), the employer had an anti-harassment policy that detailed what constitutes sexual harassment and how to report it. Further, it specifically advised employees that, “You can feel state that your complaint will receive immediate attention and if the facts support your complaint, the offender will be disciplined.”
Sounds good to me.
The Employer Handbook Blog