The Employment Brief | Employment Law | Kollman, Saucier & Jackson, P.A.

New York Bans Race Discrimination Based on Hairstyle

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/18/2019

New York has become the second state to include hairstyles within the definition of race for purposes of the state’s anti-discrimination law. Last week, California became the first state to ban such discrimination. The New York State law amends the definition of “race” to mean “traits historically associated with race, including but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles.” This includes, but is not limited to,...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/17/2019

Race Discrimination

In a recent unpublished decision, the Eleventh Circuit held that an African-American former employee could not get past summary judgment on his Title VII and Section 1981 race discrimination claims. Williams v. Housing Opportunities for Persons with Exceptionalities, No. 2:17-cv-00468-ACA (11th Cir. 7/15/19). Williams worked as a direct care provider for Housing Opportunities for Persons with Exceptionalities (“HOPE”). He worked...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/16/2019

Employment Contracts

Most employers have internal policies and procedures that govern the workplace. In the university setting, faculty discipline issues typically are addressed through fairly robust processes that may include a hearing before a faculty member’s peers. Employers are wise to adhere to their internal policies and to make those policies clear to avoid having a decision overturned for a procedural technicality. Fortunately for the University of Notre...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/12/2019

State Law, Workers' Compensation

When does an employee’s home qualify as a work site for purposes of Maryland’s Workers’ Compensation Act? That was the question of first impression the Maryland Court of Special Appeals (COSA) considered in Schwan Food Co. v. Frederick, decided last month. Given the proliferation of technology that permits employees to work for anyone, from anywhere, at any time, it is a little surprising it took this long for an appellate court to take up...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/12/2019

Gender Identity, Sexual Harassment

Although the Supreme Court has yet to opine on the issue, many jurisdictions interpret Title VII as encompassing discrimination because of gender identity (and/or sexual orientation) as discrimination because of sex. Such was the case for a former transgender corrections officer for the Arizona Department of Corrections (“ADOC”). John Doe v. State of Arizona, No. CV-18-00384-PHX-GMS (D. Ariz. 7/8/19). Mr. John Doe, a transgender male,...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

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...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/09/2019

First Amendment Protections, Workers' Compensation

I read frequently about legal opinions interpreting various laws governing the employer-employee relationship. Less often, I encounter one concerning the employment lawyer-client relationship. So when I came across a recent case, Bevan & Associates, LPA, Inc., et al. v Yost, et al., No. 18-3262 (6th Cir. 7/8/19), in which the Sixth Circuit discussed the constitutionality of a state law banning solicitation of workers’ compensation...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

07/08/2019

Legislative Developments, Race Discrimination, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden

This past week marked not only the anniversary of our Independence Day, but also the 55th anniversary of the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Amidst this well-deserved fanfare, California became the first state to make hairstyle a protected status under its state anti-discrimination law, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Presently, employers who take actions based on an individual’s headwear, when worn for religious reasons...

Vincent Jackson

07/01/2019

Arbitration, Sexual Harassment

A trial judge in the Southern District of New York found that a sexual harassment claim was subject to a mandatory arbitration clause, even though a New York law recently enacted in the wake of the #MeToo movement nullified agreements to arbitrate sexual harassment claims. Latif v. Morgan Stanley, et al., 18-cv-11528-DLC (S.D.N.Y. June 26, 2019). In Latif, a male employee of Morgan Stanley alleged in his federal court complaint that he was sexually...

Kollman, Saucier, & Jackson

06/19/2019

Disability & Leave, Fitness For Duty Evaluations, obesity

In general, federal appellate courts addressing obesity claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have held that absent an underlying physiological disorder, obesity is not a disability. However, EEOC guidance suggests, and some lower courts have concluded, that morbid obesity alone is an impairment under the ADA. In a recent case, Richardson v. Chicago Transit Authority, Nos. 17-3508 and 18-2199 (7th Cir. 6/12/19), the Seventh Circuit...

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Email Updates

New York Bans Race Discrimination Based on Hairstyle

Employee Can’t Prove Supervisor’s “Black Ass” Remark Motivated His Termination

Professor’s Misuse of Grant Funds Justified His Termination

Home Offices and Workers’ Compensation

Transgender Employee Succeeds on Hostile Work Environment Claim

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

Sixth Circuit Strikes Down Workers’ Compensation Claimant Solicitation Law

New California Law Adds Protected Status Based On Hairstyle

Southern District of New York Sends Sexual Harassment Claim To Arbitration

Seventh Circuit Weighs In On Obesity Disability Debate

Email Updates