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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
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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Maryland’s Equal Pay Law: Are You In Compliance?

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/11/2019
Employment Discrimination, Gender Identity, Legal Developments, Sex Discrimination, State Law
Watching the U.S. Women’s National Team play in and win the World Cup this past weekend took me right back to my own days of competitive girls’ soccer.  But nostalgia wasn’t the only thing that came to mind as the win brought additional attention to the Team’s recent lawsuit for equal pay.  That lawsuit, filed in March, generally alleges that the players on the Women’s National Team (“WNT”) are paid less than the players on...
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Fourth Circuit Rejects Professor's Pay Discrimination Claim

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
03/25/2019
Business Law, Sex Discrimination, Virginia Employment Law
On March 18, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment to Virginia State University, rejecting a sociology professor’s claims that she was paid less than two male colleagues because she is a woman. The Court agreed with Senior District Court Judge Henry Hudson that the disparity in pay was the result of differences in job responsibilities, as well as the fact that the men had both been...
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Lactating KFC Employee Able To Use Denial Of Proper Place To Express Milk As Evidence In Her Sex Harassment Claims

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
02/14/2019
Lactation In The Workplace, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for up to one year after the child's birth.  Employers are also required to provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.  While a potential violation of the FLSA...
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Not Just “Meat Counter Culture”: When Same-Sex Harassment Violates Title VII

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/10/2018
Damages, Employment Discrimination, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Supervisor Liability
Most of the time, the stories of workplace sexual harassment we hear about consist of conduct occurring between men and women.  Yet Title VII’s ban on discrimination because of sex encompasses same-sex harassment in the workplace as well.  Such was the lesson learned for a Chicago, Illinois grocery store that had justified the harassment of a male butcher as mere “meat counter culture” in Smith v. Rosebud Farm, Inc., Case No. 17-2626,...
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A Case of Pregnancy and Pretext

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
05/23/2018
Employment Discrimination, Pregnancy Discrimination, Pretext, Sex Discrimination
How do courts handle cases of alleged pretextual behavior designed to cover up discriminatory actions? A recent Tenth Circuit decision sheds a little light on this issue. Fassbender v. Correct Care Solutions, LLC, No. 17-3054 (10th Cir. May 15, 2018). Alena Fassbender worked for Correct Care Solutions (CCS) as a medication aide at a Kansas detention center.  Fassbender was pushing her medication cart down one of the center’s cell blocks on April...
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Federal Court Dismisses Discrimination Claim for Failure to Show Disparate Treatment

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
05/16/2018
Employment Discrimination, Sex Discrimination
A Lousiana federa court dismissed a sex discrimination claim brought by a former UPS manager because he failed to show that the company treated similarly situated female employees  better than him.  Williams v . UPS, No. 16-450-SDD-RLB (M.D.La. 5/11/18).  The decision reinforces the importance of proving that a discrimination plaintiff was treated  differently than persons outside their protected group to get a case to trial. In Williams, UPS...
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Fourth Circuit Allows EEOC to Proceed with Equal Pay Claim

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
01/17/2018
Employment Discrimination, Sex Discrimination
Last week, the Fourth Circuit issued a favorable decision for the EEOC in a case the federal agency brought against the Maryland Insurance Administration (“MIA”) for violations of the Equal Pay Act (“EPA”).  United States EEOC v. Md. Ins. Admin., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 298 (4th Cir. Jan. 5, 2018). The Underlying Case The lawsuit grew from three female MIA Fraud Investigators’ complaints that they made less money than male Fraud...
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LGBTQ Protections and Best Practices Under Title VII

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
01/11/2018
Employment Discrimination, Gender Identity, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Orientation
We are pleased to announce that Darrell VanDeusen and Alex Berg's recent article on "LGBTQ Protections and Best Practices under Title VII" has been published on Lexis Practice Advisor and Law360 (subscriptions required). A copy of the article, which is intended primarily to inform employers about the current state of the law across federal appellate courts and to provide practical pointers to businesses who face LGBTQ issues in the workplace, can be...
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The Saga Continues for Title VII and Transgender Identity

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/11/2017
Employment Discrimination, Gender Identity, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Orientation
Much like Star Wars fans anticipate the rolling out of Episode after Episode, I have observed the developing landscape of Title VII sex discrimination with the sort of excitement that ordinarily warrants a big tub of popcorn.  The most recent activity is no exception. Two weeks ago, we reported on the Department of Justice’s statement that sexual orientation is not – nor should be – a protected category under Title VII. Last week, the...
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