Archive for 2008
EEOC Updates Compliance Manual on Religious Discrimination
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) maintains and periodically updates a Compliance Manual, an internal guide for EEOC enforcement personnel that contains the EEOC’s interpretation of Title VII and the other discrimination laws it enforces. Although the Compliance Manual does not have the force of law, it is a very helpful resource for employees and…
Read MoreFemale Employee Fired for Having IVF Procedure has Claim for Pregnancy Discrimination
It seems as if the courts are giving birth to a number of important pregnancy discrimination act cases these days. In our last post, we wrote about a case from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, in which the court held that a female employee who was fired shortly after having an abortion can assert a…
Read MoreEmployee Fired after Having an Abortion has Claim for Pregnancy Discrimination
In a case of first impression from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Doe v. C.A.R.S. Protection Plus, Inc., the court held that a female employee who was fired less than a week after having an abortion has a claim for discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Plaintiff worked as a graphic designer for a used…
Read MorePunitive Damages in Employment Discrimination Cases after Exxon: The Death of Punies has been Greatly Exaggerated
The blawgosphere has been buzzing about the supposed death of punitive damages in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, in which the Court held that, as a matter of federal maritime law, the maximum amount of a defendant’s liability for punitive damages is equal to one times the amount of…
Read MoreSupreme Court Wrap-Up: Supremes Rule that Section 1981 Encompasses Claims for Retaliation
The United States Supreme Court has recently issued a number of very employee-friendly employment discrimination decisions. In this post and our next few posts, we will discuss these important employment discrimination decisions. CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries In the first case, CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries, the Court addressed the issue of whether 42 U.S.C. §…
Read MoreDiscriminatory Denial of Pay Raise Cannot be Cured by Later Raise
We just received a good result from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appeals court for the states of Georgia, Florida and Alabama) in a race discrimination and retaliation case and, at the risk of seeming immodest, we’d like to share it with you. It’s a very employee-friendly decision on the issue of…
Read MoreParents Discharged for Son’s Medical Costs Have Disability Discrimination Claim
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) contains a rarely used provision that protects employees who are not disabled but who are discriminated against because they are associated with an individual, such as a spouse or other family member, who is disabled. A recent case from the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Trujillo v. PacifiCorp, although…
Read MoreSexually Suggestive Comment Not Enough to Establish Sexual Harassment
As we wrote in a prior post about the case of Reeves v. C.H. Robinson on sexual harassment, an employee complaining about sexual harassment in the workplace must prove that harassment was severe and pervasive, and not merely sporadic or occasional. Unfortunately for the employee in a recent case, Webb-Edwards v. Orange County Sherriff’s Office, even though…
Read More“Sex Specific Profanity” Supports Sexual Harassment Claim
A good sexual harassment case has come out of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals-the federal appeals court for the states of Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. In Reeves v. C.H. Robinson, a female employee claimed that for a period of almost three years there were daily instances of sexually offensive language and conduct in her…
Read MoreHouse Passes Genetic Nondiscrimination Law
We recently wrote about the Senate’s passage of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, a federal law that would prohibit employers from discriminating against employees based on the results of genetic tests and also prohibit health insurance companies from relying on the results of genetic tests in setting premium rates or making enrollment eligibility decisions. The…
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