Earlier today, for the first time in over 25 years, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its enforcement guidance on unlawful workplace harassment. Though not legally binding, this new guidance makes clear how the EEOC will enforce federal anti-harassment laws under the current administration. The EEOC’s new guidance provides clarity — and… Read More
Posts Tagged With: Title VII
Supreme Court: Employers Must Accommodate Employees’ Religious Practices
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled, in Groff v. DeJoy, that employers have a heightened duty to accommodate their employees’ religious practices.
Supreme Court Bombshell: Title VII Protects LGBTQ Employees from Workplace Discrimination
On June 15, 2020, in Bostock v. Clayton County, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) protects LGBTQ employees from workplace discrimination and assures LGBTQ employees of equal treatment in all “terms and conditions” of employment. Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump… Read More
Federal Court Rules that Title VII Protects Gays and Lesbians from Workplace Discrimination
For the first time ever, a federal appellate court has ruled that sexual orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination that is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The decision in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College came from the full 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 8-3 vote. In… Read More
EEOC Issues Enforcement Guidance on Workplace Retaliation
On August 25, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published its Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues. The EEOC’s new enforcement guidance is critical for all employers because it states clearly the EEOC’s intention to more vigorously enforce federal anti-retaliation laws. It also provides employers with some helpful guidance for avoiding liability for retaliation… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Pregnant Employees
Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a pregnant woman on her claim that her employer discriminated against her on account of her pregnancy. The case, entitled Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., involved a pregnant UPS worker whose doctor recommended that she not life heavy objects while pregnant. When the employee requested… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Makes Retaliation Cases Harder to Prove
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar. The issue in that case was whether a plaintiff alleging illegal retaliation under Title VII against her employer had to show but-for causation (i.e., that the employer would not have taken the adverse employment action but for its… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Puts New Limits on Harassment Claims under Title VII
Back in 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court announced two important decisions that clarified the scope of an employer’s liability for workplace sexual harassment under Title VII. These two cases are Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775 (1998), and Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742 (1998), and they announced the rule that continues… Read More
EEOC Says Transgender Applicants and Employees Protected Under Title VII
On April 20, 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled in Macy v. Holder that transgendered applicants and employees are protected from employment discrimination by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This landmark decision marks the first time that a federal court or agency has extended Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination… Read More
