Employer's DEI mandate scores a win. A white guy refused to take his employer's mandatory "unconscious bias" training, and he was fired. He sued the employer for retaliation, his lawsuit was dismissed, and this week an...more
7/12/2024
/ Bias ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity ,
Employee Training ,
Insubordination Policy ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Termination ,
Title VI ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
Just a little harm will do. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Title VII does not require a plaintiff to show that a discriminatory transfer to another position caused her to suffer “significant” or...more
4/19/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Employee Transfers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Lateral Transfers ,
Muldrow v City of St Louis ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Title VII
She was 93. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, died last Friday.
Justice O'Connor was appointed to the Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, and was a role model to many of us women...more
After last week’s Supreme Court decision in Groff v. DeJoy, employers should prepare to seriously entertain, and grant, more employee requests for religious accommodation.
Gerald Groff, an Evangelical Christian postal...more
7/5/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Groff v. DeJoy, a case I blogged about in January. The case is about what standard of "undue hardship" should apply in religious accommodation cases.
Under every...more
4/21/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USSERA) ,
USPS ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
"Undue hardship" defense is likely to become tougher.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the undue hardship standard in religious accommodation cases. We expect the standard to become more difficult for employers...more
1/27/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USSERA) ,
Wage and Hour
(It's possible that you heard this already.)
I was traveling and with a client all day yesterday -- otherwise, I would have posted this in a more timely manner. Better late than never, I hope....more
Announcement may be made later today.
The New York Times reports this morning that President Biden has selected his nominee to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat being vacated by Justice Stephen Breyer....more
Biden promises a nominee by end of February.
Justice Stephen Breyer has announced his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court effective sometime this summer, presumably to guarantee that President Biden rather than a...more
Where does OSHA go now?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, I'm sure you've heard, officially withdrew its COVID-19 vaccination Emergency Temporary Standard, effective today...more
Two justices flip to the other side.
The Supreme Court voted 5-4 today to stay two injunctions that were keeping a vaccine mandate issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from taking effect in 25 states...more
I won't be as giddy as I was yesterday.
As almost everyone knows, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday reinstated a stay on the "vax-or-test" mandate issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. As a result,...more
1/14/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
While we wait.
I was really hoping that by yesterday the Supreme Court would have stayed the Emergency Temporary Standard that was issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Maybe today?...more
1/11/2022
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Masks ,
Oral Argument ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Supreme Court argument on OSHA ETS starts at 10 a.m. ET.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hold oral argument today at 10 a.m. Eastern on the COVID-19 vaccination Emergency Temporary Standard issued by the Occupational Safety...more
Let's start off 2022 with a bang!
On Friday, January 7, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on two of the Biden Administration's COVID-19 vaccination mandates -- the Emergency Temporary Standard issued by the...more
12/23/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Joe Biden ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
The Emergency Temporary Standard issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was stayed on November 6, but the stay was lifted on Friday night. Opponents of the ETS immediately asked for Supreme Court...more
EEOC takes a stand on bathrooms and gender identity.
Well, not the whole Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Just the chair, Charlotte Burrows (D), who has issued non-binding guidance on sexual orientation and gender...more
Mere "misuse" of information is not enough.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided yesterday that a criminal conviction under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act cannot be based merely on misusing information obtained through a...more
6/4/2021
/ Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Confidential Information ,
Databases ,
FBI ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Police ,
SCOTUS ,
Termination ,
Trade Secrets ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Van Buren v United States
Sworn in by Justice Clarence Thomas.
The U.S. Supreme Court is back to full strength now. Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed by the Senate last night and sworn in by Justice Thomas at a White House ceremony held shortly...more
Looks like she'll make it!
The U.S. Senate will hold its confirmation vote on Judge Amy Coney Barrett next Thursday, October 22.
Judge Barrett, currently serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, was...more
Where do the SCOTUS front-runners stand?
We'll know for sure tomorrow evening when President Trump announces his pick, but word on the street is that the two front-runners for the Supreme Court seat held by the late Justice...more
March 15, 1933 - September 18, 2020.
It is impossible to deny the impact that Ruth Bader Ginsburg has had on equality for women and on the Supreme Court.
Whether one agrees with all of her positions, they were brilliantly...more
In light of his Supreme Court win in June.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has revived a Title VII lawsuit filed by Gerald Bostock, who had sued Clayton County, Georgia, alleging that the county terminated...more
8/28/2020
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Too bad.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower-court decision saying that salary history is not a "legitimate factor other than sex" that justifies a pay differential, and therefore that use of salary history...more
In a 6-3 decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is a form of “sex” discrimination prohibited by Title VII.
Justice...more
6/16/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Identity ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII