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

Massachusetts Makes it Illegal to Ask About Salary History Before Job Offer

Kollman & Saucier

08/06/2016

This week Massachusetts became the first state to ban employers from asking job applicants about salary history prior to making a job offer. The new law aims to narrow the state’s gender wage gap by making it illegal for employers to: Prohibit discussion about employee wages in the workplace; Screen applicants based on wage or request disclosure of prior wage history; Seek a prospective employee’s salary history from a former employer;...

Kollman & Saucier

08/04/2016

Agency Activity, Employment Discrimination, Virginia Employment Law

According to an article in the Washington Post, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that an employee may create a racially hostile work environment by wearing a hat depicting the "Gasden Flag" (a coiled rattlesnake and the phrase "Don't Tread On Me"). Sheldon D. v. Brennan, 2016 WL 3361228. The Gasden Flag, which gained recent popularity as a symbol of the Tea Party movement, has its origins in the American Revolution, when it was...

Kollman & Saucier

08/01/2016

Employment Discrimination

Around this time last year, I wrote about the Foxx case, an EEOC decision holding that sexual orientation discrimination is a violation of Title VII. The ruling-- only binding on federal agencies-- left us wondering whether federal courts might soon follow suit. "Not yet," said the Seventh Circuit last week in the first appellate decision to address the issue since Foxx. (Hivley v. Ivy Tech Cmty. Coll., No. 15-1720 (7/28/16).) Sexual...

Kollman & Saucier

07/29/2016

Employment Discrimination, Sex Discrimination

This week, a male laboratory technologist filed a lawsuit under Title VII alleging he was denied a promotion and wrongfully terminated for inadvertent HIPAA violations, because of his sex. Harrell lists the following as evidence of sex discrimination: He applied for a clinical supervisor position, which was ultimate given to a female (less qualified, claims Harrell). Female employees were permitted more travel to off-site locations. As for his...

Kollman & Saucier

07/29/2016

Virginia Employment Law

Many of us who have worked for someone other than themselves have fantasized about walking in to the office one day, handing our boss a letter of resignation, and then walking out the door (with the lyrics of The Who's "I'm Free" playing in our heads). Some of us may have even taken the fantasy one step further and written that letter of resignation, only to leave it in a desk drawer. So what happens when an employee goes so far as to write...

Kollman & Saucier

07/29/2016

Virginia Employment Law

A federal court in Virginia held that an employer is not liable for a female employee's sexual assault by a male co-worker. Applying the doctrine of respondent superior, the Court held that the male employee was not acting within the scope of his employment when the assault occurred. Clehm v. BAE Sys. Ordnance, Inc. , W.D. Va. No. 16-0012 (July 22, 2016). The case arose when BAE employee Carla Clehm alleged that a male co-worker "slammed her...

Kollman & Saucier

07/28/2016

Handbooks/Policies

I always enjoy when I can write about topics or interests in my personal life, that cross into my professional life (see my blog post from the beginning of the year on CrossFit and an FBI male applicant's sex discrimination claim). As an avid coffee drinker (an Americano with cinnamon is my go to), I could not resist the chance to write about Starbucks recently updated and very publicized "relaxed" dress code announced earlier this week: "The...

Kollman & Saucier

07/21/2016

Labor Law

In the aftermath of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order, which President Obama signed on July 31, 2014, the NLRB Office of General Counsel has issued guidance to its regions concerning the collection of additional information and reporting of certain federal contractors. Federal contractors and employment lawyers may recall that the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order requires the EEOC, DOL and NLRB to collect and provide to...

Kollman & Saucier

07/15/2016

Employment Discrimination, Sexual Harassment

As the second half of the Major League Baseball season begins tonight (with thanks to Zach Britton, Matt Wieters, and the rest of the Orioles All-Stars for helping to win World Series home-field advantage for the AL), the First Circuit offered another reminder that baseball doesn't always mix well with the workplace. Burns v. Johnson, No. 15-1982 (1st Cir. July 11, 2016). Kathleen Burns began working for the Transportation Security Administration...

Kollman & Saucier

07/14/2016

Disability & Leave, Retaliation

As courts have observed, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides a “most favored nation” status to the millions of us who have physical or mental impairments. Though the law provides a benefit (reasonable accommodation) to disabled individuals that is not required to be given to the general public, this benefit is not without limitations. For example, as the Tenth Circuit recently affirmed, an individual with a disability must...

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Email Updates

Massachusetts Makes it Illegal to Ask About Salary History Before Job Offer

EEOC Rules That "Don't Tread On Me" Hat Might Be Racially Offensive

Appellate Court Holds That Sexual Orientation Not Covered by Title VII

Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" Now A Reason For A Sex Discrimination Claim, Ironically

"I Quit" - Well, Not Really ...

Virginia Employer Not Liable for Employee's Sexual Assaults

Starbucks New Dress Code Lets Baristas Get Creative With More Than Just Frappucinos

NLRB Issues Guidance on New Federal Contractor Reporting Obligations

Court Finds Supervisor's Harassing Behavior To Be Outside the Baselines

Colorado Truck Driver Fails to Climb ADA Proof Hurdle

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