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Supreme Court Rules That Gay and Transgender Employees Are Protected Under Title VII

Kollman & Saucier
06/16/2020
Employment Discrimination, Same-Sex Marriage, Sex Discrimination, Supreme Court Decisions
In a landmark 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Title VII protections extend to gay and transgender employees. The Bostock case was a consolidation of three cases wherein an employee was terminated for being homosexual or transgender. Gerald Bostock was fired shortly after joining a gay recreational softball league. Donald Zarda was terminated shortly after he announced being gay. Aimee Stephens was fired after informing her...
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EEOC's Updated COVID-19 Guidance: Employees Not Entitled To Accommodations Because They Live With High-Risk Individuals; Treat Older Workers Equally Despite Risk

Kollman & Saucier
06/11/2020
Age Discrimination, COVID-19, EEOC, Employment Discrimination, Pregnancy Discrimination, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden
In an updated guidance on COVID-19, the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws, the EEOC has clarified an employer need not accommodate an employee's request to telework who is not high risk but lives with high risk individuals.  The EEOC has also clarified that companies may not mandate exclude older workers and pregnant employees from the workplace even though public health authorities advise they are a higher risk group for severe...
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Fourth Circuit: Allege Your Discrimination Claim with More Specificity

Kollman & Saucier
05/28/2020
Employment Discrimination
In January 2019, my friend and partner Eric Paltell wrote a blog for our website on the Maryland District Court’s dismissal of a race discrimination complaint based on a supervisor’s Google search of a new employee.  Last week, the Fourth Circuit affirmed that decision in a split three judge panel ruling.  Bing v. Brivo Systems, LLC, 2020 U.S. App. LEIXS 16003 (4th Cir. May 19, 2020). A review of the alleged facts and the result bear...
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Court Rules U.S. Women’s World Cup Champions Can’t Get More Than They Bargained For, Dismisses Equal Pay Claim

Kollman & Saucier
05/05/2020
Employment Discrimination, Sex Discrimination
The U.S. women’s soccer team suffered a rare defeat on Friday when a federal court in California dismissed the team’s claims against the U.S. Soccer Federation alleging wage discrimination based on sex.  You can read the decision here. In support of the women’s equal pay lawsuit filed in March of last year, the team argued that the collective bargaining agreements for the men’s and women’s U.S. soccer teams established -- as a matter...
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New Virginia Anti-Discrimination Law Expands Coverage and Allows Employees to Sue for Damages in State Court

Kollman & Saucier
04/14/2020
Employment Discrimination, Virginia Employment Law
On April 11, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed into law the Virginia Values Act.  While the law has been heralded for making Virginia the first Southern state to enact comprehensive protections for LGBTQ persons, the law also amends the Virginia Human Rights Act (“VHRA”) to create a new private right of action for employment discrimination against employers of 15 or more employees (employers of more than five persons may be sued...
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EEOC Enforcement Data Shows Decrease In Overall Complaints For FY19

Kollman & Saucier
01/27/2020
Agency Activity, Employment Discrimination
On Friday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released its charge-filing statistics for fiscal year 2019, which began October 1, 2018 and ended September 30, 2019. Overall, the Commission received 72,675 charges of discrimination in FY19, down from 76,418 in 2018.  Not surprisingly, retaliation charges continued to make up a majority of claims at 39,110 or 53.8%.  Compared to other employment discrimination claims, retaliation...
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U.S. District Court Grants Summary Judgment for Downtown Partnership of Baltimore on Title VII Claim

Vincent Jackson
01/23/2020
Employment Discrimination
A former Downtown Partnership of Baltimore employee who brought a Title VII lawsuit alleging race discrimination based on her termination for purportedly sending a negative email to her entire office was not entitled to a trial, ruled U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Hollander in a January 15, 2020 Opinion. The Plaintiff was an African American woman who was hired by Downtown Partnership in 2006 as an administrative assistant.  Until her...
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Supervisor’s Hugs & Kisses Were Assault & Battery, Were Not Harassment Under Title VII

Kollman & Saucier
12/16/2019
Employment Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Virginia Employment Law
A federal court in Virginia recently found that a former employee of the Department of Veterans Services (DVS) presented enough evidence that her supervisor’s hugs and kisses comprised an assault and battery against her, but not enough to establish sexual harassment or hostile work environment under Title VII.  Back v. Commonwealth of Virginia, et al., No. 7:17-cv-00477 (W.D. Va. 11/27/19). Back worked as a Veterans Services Representative...
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Employer's Sloppy Investigation Leads to Trial on Discrimination Claim

Kollman & Saucier
12/13/2019
Employment Discrimination
A federal court in Pennsylvania recently ruled that an African American mine worker who faced several instances of racist epithets and imagery at the work site produced sufficient evidence to overcome the mining company’s motion for summary judgment.  Robinson v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC, No. 2:18-cv-00555-NR (W.D. Penn. 11/27/19) Robinson worked for Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company (Consol).  Over the course of several...
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Failure to Hire Claim May Go to a Jury After Court Doubts Employer’s Assertions

Kollman & Saucier
12/10/2019
Employment Discrimination, National Origin, Race Discrimination
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland recently ruled that a former employee of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) may proceed with trial in his race and national origin discrimination case against the transit service agency based, in part, on several of the employer’s questionable assertions concerning their hiring process.  Thomas v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, No. PX-18-00175 (D. Md....
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