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Nov 28 2017
Harassment & DiscriminationQ&A

Q&A: When does “creepy” cross the line into sexual harassment?

The Answer: Employers have a duty to investigate and take prompt action to address harassment in the workplace. In this instance, you have a report of behavior that could potentially create a hostile work environment, so it warrants some follow-up. Harassment investigations can mean something other than the formal process of taking witness statements, gathering…

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Nov 27 2017
Harassment & DiscriminationHiringOregon

Oregon BOLI won’t enforce salary history bill until 2019

According to email correspondence with officials at BOLI, the agency ultimately determined that the new law doesn’t grant enforcement authority until January 1, 2019. The salary history provision was contained in one section of the Oregon Equal Pay Act (HB 2005), which also greatly expanded employers’ potential liability for pay differences among employees performing “comparable”…

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Oct 24 2017
Harassment & DiscriminationTermination & Resignation

Q&A: Employer may require employee to disclose romance with subordinate

Answer: Yes to both of your questions. You can ask both employees about the existence of a romantic relationship and require them to disclose any romantic relationship with any of your other employees. If either of them refuse to answer your questions and their refusal impedes your ability to determine whether company policy has been…

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Oct 23 2017
Affirmative ActionHarassment & Discrimination

OFCCP secures significant settlements from federal contractors

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) hustled to wrap up major financial settlements from federal contractors as the federal government’s fiscal year drew to a close on September 30, 2017. The settlements were the result of the OFCCP’s focus on hiring, placement (“steering”), and compensation practices during random affirmative action audits. Below are…

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Oct 19 2017
CaliforniaHarassment & DiscriminationHiring

California Governor signs a slew of new legislation in 2017

The 2017 California legislative session has drawn to a close, and Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a slew of new bills affecting private employers. Below are the major employment-related bills that affect most California employers. All of them take effect on January 1, 2018. AB 168: Bans employers from asking job applicants about salary history…

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Oct 13 2017
DisabilityHarassment & DiscriminationTermination & Resignation

Ninth Circuit okays termination of employee with sleep apnea

Finding no evidence of discrimination under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a railroad terminated a train engineer because of his poor attendance, not his diagnosed sleep disorder. Although this case was brought under FEHA, the analysis was the same as it would be under…

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Oct 03 2017
Harassment & Discrimination

Pregnancy Discrimination Act covers breastfeeding

A recent court of appeals decision serves as a good reminder that women are protected by the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) from discrimination or retaliation for requesting workplace accommodations for expressing breast milk. The PDA prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against a woman because she is pregnant, might become pregnant,…

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Sep 19 2017
Affirmative ActionHarassment & Discrimination

OFCCP audit results in $3.22 million payment by B&H Foto

Following an affirmative action audit by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), federal contractor B&H Foto & Electronics Corp. has agreed to pay $3,220,000 in back pay and interest to affected workers. The OFCCP alleged that the company systematically discriminated against applicants and employees in its warehouse in Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York….

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Aug 28 2017
Harassment & DiscriminationHiringQ&A

Q&A: Altering usual hiring process could lead to retaliation charge

Answer: It depends. It is illegal to retaliate against an applicant by not hiring the individual because she filed a prior discrimination claim against your company. You should go through your normal hiring process and determine the best candidate based on non-discriminatory factors. Depending on the job, you may want to consider experience, skills, ability,…

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Aug 24 2017
CaliforniaHarassment & Discrimination

Objective layoff criteria fend off age discrimination claim in California

A California employer successfully defended itself against an age discrimination claim when it relied on objective reasons to implement a reduction in force (RIF). A 60-year old employee claimed that his hotel employer selected him for a RIF due to his age and that this violated California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The employee…

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Aug 11 2017
Harassment & DiscriminationQ&ATermination & Resignation

Q&A: Free speech has limits in private employment (fired Google engineer)

Answer: The constitutional right to free speech protects people from the government interfering with their speech, but it doesn’t insulate them from non-governmental consequences of that speech. So, government employees have free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution, but employees of private employers don’t have constitutional rights related to their employment. Private employers still have…

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Aug 04 2017
Affirmative ActionHarassment & Discrimination

KPMG agrees to pay $420K to rejected Asian applicants

Following an affirmative action audit by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), KPMG LLP agreed to pay $420,000 in back pay, interest, and benefits to 60 Asian applicants it rejected for associate auditor jobs in New Jersey. The company also agreed to offer positions to 6 of the disappointed applicants as positions become…

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