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Race Discrimination Hostile Environment Employer Liability Issues

Fisher Phillips

Growing Attacks on Corporate DEI Programs: 5 Employer Takeaways to Help Support Your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts

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Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are facing scrutiny across the country, causing some employers to scale down their DEI initiatives or drop them altogether. As companies face pressure and increasing legal challenges,...more

Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.

Former Driver Wins “Nuclear Verdict” Against Global Package Delivery Company in Retaliation Lawsuit

On September 12, 2024, a Yakima, Washington jury awarded a $237.6 million nuclear verdict to Tahvio Gratton, a former package delivery driver who filed a lawsuit against his employer for violation of federal and state...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Connecticut Supreme Court Adopts Federal Definition of ‘Supervisor’ for State Law Hostile Work Environment Claims

A “supervisor,” for purposes of a Connecticut state hostile work environment claim, is an employee who is empowered by an employer to take tangible employment actions, the Connecticut Supreme Court recently held in O’Reggio...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Single Use of Racial Slur May Constitute Harassment

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court ruled that an isolated, one-time, use of a racial slur may be so severe—when viewed in relation to the totality of the circumstances—as to alter the conditions of employment,...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Employers Offering DEI Training Need To Monitor Both Pro- and Anti-DEI Court Challenges and Legislative Proposals

The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision declaring the consideration of race in university admissions unconstitutional has had a significant impact on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives....more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

DEI Training Videos Did Not Create Hostile Work Environment

Employers’ diversity, equity, and inclusion programs have faced recent pushback from employees and others who claim that the contents of training falsely accuse them of systemic bias based on their race....more

Littler

Littler Lightbulb: February Appellate Roundup

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This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal in the last month....more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Claims of Hostile Work Environment Happened Over Too Long a Period, Court Rules

Last week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims from a university professor that she had been subjected to a series of retaliatory acts in the two- and one-half year period following her filing an Equal...more

FordHarrison

Guidance for Employers to Ensure Workplaces Remain Free from Antisemitism

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Executive Summary: The unprecedented increase in antisemitism in the workplace may subject employers to liability under federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of religion, race, national origin and...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Eleventh Circuit Sets High Bar for Politically and Racially Disparaging Comments to Support Harassment Claim

As the U.S. becomes more politically divided, employers increasingly are forced to deal with political and social disputes among employees. Last week in Yelling v. St. Vincent’s Health System, the Eleventh Circuit Court of...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Recognizes 'Equal Opportunity Harasser' Defense

We often hear claims from employees who threaten to sue their employer for creating a “hostile work environment.” When we dig into the complaints, often the employee is alleging that their manager is mean or unfair to them,...more

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC

Second Circuit Clarifies Federal Law on Employment Retaliation Claims

In a recent decision, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals court covering New York and adjacent states, sought to clarify the federal law standard for evaluating retaliation claims under the principal...more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

Taos Hotel Formerly Known as Whitten Inn and its Successor Settle EEOC Race and National Origin Harassment Suit

Former Owner of Whitten Hotel Accused of Racist Behavior, Federal Agency Charges - ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Roark-Whitten Hospitality 2, LP, doing business as the Whitten Inn, and its successor purchaser of the hotel SGI, LLC,...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

‘POWR’ Play: Colorado Law Tips the Scale in Favor of Employees Regarding Employment Claims, Nondisclosure Agreements

On June 7, 2023, Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill (SB) 23-172 into law, radically transforming Colorado’s employment discrimination legal landscape by expanding the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA)....more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

Alden Short and Hinson Jennings to Pay $85,000 to Settle EEOC National Origin Discrimination Suit

Property Management Company Settles Federal Charges of Harassing Three Hispanic Employees - DALLAS – Alden Short and Hinson Jennings, a Dallas-based property management company, will pay $85,000 and furnish other relief to...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Infrequent but Repeated Comments Can Create a Hostile Working Environment Based on Race

Long-time EmployNews readers know that we have repeatedly written about the changing legal standard for racial harassment claims adopted by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina,...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Racial Slur From Owner's Six-Year-Old Son is Evidence of Offensive Working Environment

​​​​​​​Over the past decade, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) has substantially lowered the bar for demonstrating racial harassment in cases where a racial...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Fifth Circuit Finds Specific Allegation of One-Time Use of Racial Slur Sufficient to Preclude Dismissal Under Rule 12(b)(6)

On March 24, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a district court’s Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) dismissal for failure to state a claim on a pro se plaintiff’s hostile work environment...more

Fisher Phillips

What’s In a Word? Maybe a Lawsuit

Fisher Phillips on

A single word may be enough to land your dealership at the receiving end of a lawsuit – maybe even a jury trial. Especially, as an Illinois dealership recently learned, if that word is the most egregious racial epithet in the...more

McAfee & Taft

Buying a business? Don’t buy an employment lawsuit

McAfee & Taft on

When acquiring a business, companies sometimes unwittingly buy an employment lawsuit. Recently, the 10th Circuit – the federal appeals court that applies to Oklahoma employers – explained when a successor business can be held...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fifth Circuit Agrees That One Use of the "N-Word" Can Create a Racially Hostile Work Environment

Over the past decade, a growing number of federal appellate circuits have heard cases asking whether a single use of a racially offensive epithet is enough to clear the bar for a hostile environment racial harassment claim...more

Maynard Nexsen

$137 Million Verdict Illustrates Importance of Competent Anti-Harassment Policies

Maynard Nexsen on

On October 4, 2021, a North California federal jury awarded a former Tesla subcontractor $137 million after finding that he had been subjected to a hostile work environment and that Tesla was responsible for the harm it...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Louisiana Court Rules Jones Act Claim for Mental Injury Can Proceed in Light of Noose in Maritime Workplace

Recently, the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit, in Thompson v. Cenac Towing Co., L.L.C., analyzed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in a company’s favor after a noose-like rope was found hanging in a maritime...more

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

EEOC Condemns Antisemitism in Unanimous Resolution

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has unanimously approved a resolution condemning the recent violence, harassment, and acts of bias against Jewish individuals in the United States, the...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Creating Solutions To Racism Problem In Construction Industry

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

In 2020 alone, there were nearly 20 highly publicized incidents of flagrant racism on construction jobsites throughout North America, ranging from workers of color finding nooses hung in the workplace to racist graffiti. Many...more

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