EEOC Rules Federal Laws Ban Transgender Discrimination
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has just ruled that federal employment discrimination law (Title VII) prohibits transgender discrimination. This means that employers may not take a person’s transgender status into account in making employment decisions, such a hiring, firing and promoting. This decision follows the same reasoning applied to longstanding sex and gender discrimination laws…
Read MoreOvertime Lawsuits On The Rise
Since the height of the recession in 2008, millions of workers have been laid off, forced to work longer hours and many have received less pay. Now workers are striking back in court. According to a recent overtime lawsuit article, there has been a dramatic increase is workers suing employers pursuant to both federal and…
Read MoreCiticorp Required To Pay Back Wages For Equal Pay Act Violations
A Florida woman has been awarded nearly $340,000 in back pay as the result of a pay discrimination lawsuit against Citicorp. According to the lawsuit, when Heidi Wilson received a promotion to become manager of the Citicorp service center she did not receive a raise or bonus despite the fact that the male who was in…
Read MoreRaising The Federal Minimum Wage Could Help Struggling Families And Communities
A movement is underway in Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to as much as $10. Under current federal employment law – the Fair Labor Standards Act [FLSA] – employers are required to pay workers at least $7.25 an hour. Several states including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois and elsewhere are pushing to…
Read MorePregnancy Discrimination On The Rise
News reports that pregnancy discrimination cases across the county are on the rise. According to a Washington Post article, nearly 6,000 women across the country have filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging pregnancy discrimination at work. If you believe you may have been discriminated against because of a pregnancy, it is important to…
Read MoreUSERRA Protects Military Personnel’s Right To Reemployment
With many active uniformed officers returning to the United States and hoping to return to their previous employment, many military personnel wonder about their rights to reemployment when returning from serving in the military. Fortunately, federal anti-discrimination law protects armed service members. Called the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), USERRA provides that…
Read MoreUnpaid Intern At Charlie Rose Show Files Wage And Hour Lawsuit
A former intern at the Charlie Rose show has filed a wage and hour lawsuit based on alleged violations of state wage laws similar to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that require employers to pay interns who perform certain types of work. Before you accept a position as an “unpaid intern” it is a…
Read MoreInstances Of Harassment Not Raised At Administrative Level Allowed In Civil Sexual Harrassment Lawsuit
A recent case out of California determined that even though certain allegations were not raised during the administrative phase of a sexual harassment case, that those allegations could be raised as part of the civil sexual harassment lawsuit. Sexual harassment is probably the most well known form of employment discrimination. What is not as well…
Read MoreSupreme Court To Determine Whether Employees Are Protected From Retaliation For Making Oral Complaints
As the new Supreme Court session gets under way, an important case for worker’s rights will be determined. In Kasten v. Saint-Gobain, the Court will examine the issue of retaliation as it relates to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The FLSA covers a number of different areas, including minimum wage, overtime and child labor laws.…
Read MoreUnpaid Internships May Violate The FLS
With spring approaching and summer not far off, employers and students begin thinking about summer jobs, including summer internships. Many employers have gotten in trouble for using “unpaid interns” as a way around paying hard working employees the wages they are entitled to. The good news is that employers are slowly recognizing that strict rules…
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