August 17, 2011

Weekly Wednesday Acronym – ENDA

Filed under: Affirmative Action,Compliance,Discrimination,EEO,Employment Law,General HR Buzz,Genetic,Management Practices,Title VII — Tags: , , , — Joyce @ 7:00 am

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is not a new acronym.  In fact, it has been included in some form of the bills considered by Congress in every session since 1994 except in the 109th Congress (January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007).  So what is ENDA?  Simply stated, it is a proposed federal law that would prohibit sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in the workplace.  The bill is closely modeled on existing civil rights laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Currently, 21 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, and 15 states and D.C. also prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.  Although these laws provide important protections, according to a 2002 General Accounting Office (GAO) report, relatively few complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation have been filed in these states.

Although there isn’t currently a federal law in place, as of March 2011 87% of the Fortune 500 companies had implemented non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation and 46% had policies that include gender identity.

Currently the bill was introduced in the 112th Congress on April 6, 2011 in the House, and on April 13, 2011 in the Senate.  With the current makeup of the House and Senate, politicians are predicting that the proposed ENDA may pass.  Stay tuned for further updates.

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June 20, 2011

Breaking News…Wal-Mart wins in Supreme Court Decision

Filed under: Compliance,Discrimination,Legal Issues — Tags: , , — Joyce @ 12:03 pm

Breaking News…

The Supreme Court has blocked a sexual discrimination class action lawsuit representing 1.6 million women against Wal-Mart.  The justices agreed that the lawsuit cannot proceed as a class action in its current form.  This reversed a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. 

What’s next for the women who filed the lawsuit?  If they choose to proceed, they may pursue their claims on their own which will make it more difficult to reach a favorable financial verdict.  Additionally, this decision by the Supreme Court may make it more difficult for similar lawsuits to proceed as class action.

Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion for the court’s conservative majority said there needs to be common elements tying together “literally millions of employent decisions at once.”

But Scalia said that in the lawsuit against the nation’s largest private employer, “That is entirely absent here.”

In a statement, Wal-Mart said, “The court today unanimously rejected class certification and, as the majority made clear, the plaintiffs’ claims were worlds away from showing a companywide discriminatory pay and promotion policy.”

Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, said “the court has told employers that they can rest easy, knowing that the bigger and more powerful they are, the less likely their employees will be able to join together to secure their rights.”

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January 22, 2010

HR Fact Friday: Job Bias Claims Based on Religion & Disability Rise

Filed under: ADA & Disability,Employment Law — Tags: , , , , — Paul @ 9:46 am

The number of workers claiming job discrimintion based on disability, religion, or national origin surged to new highs last year, as federal job bias complaints overall stayed at near record levels.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said Wednesday that charges of disability discrimination rose by about 10% to 21,451 claims, the largest increase of any category.

The increase coincided with changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) last year that made it easier for people with epilepsy, diabetes and other treatable conditions to claim they are disabled.

Overall, the EEOC received more than 93,000 discrimination claims during the 2009 fiscal year, a 2% decrease from the record set in 2008, but still the second highest level in the commission’s history.

As in previous years, claims based on race, sex and retaliation were the most frequent.

Since the ADA was enacted in 1990, a series of Supreme Court rulings have generally exempted from its protections those with partial physical disabilites or impairments that can be treated with medication or devices such as hearing aids.

Legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush before he left office directs courts to apply the definition of disability more generously.

Charges of discrimination based on national origin rose by about 5% to 11,134 claims, while religious discrimination claims rose less than 1% to 3,386 claims.  Allegations of race discrimination remained the most frequently filed complaint, accounting for about 36% of all filings last year.

The EEOC said the near-historic level of complaints overall may be due to a number of factors, including economic conditions, increased diversity and demographic shifts in the work force. Employees also may be more aware of their rights and could be taking advantage of changes at the EEOC to make it easier to file a discrimination charge.

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.

Source: Yahoo Finance, Equal opportunity Commission (http://www.eeoc.gov)

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December 4, 2009

HR Fact Friday: Women Hold Half of U.S. Jobs

Filed under: General HR Buzz — Tags: , , , , — Paul @ 3:35 pm

For the first time in history, half of all U.S. workers are women, and mothers are the primary breadwinners or co-breadwinners in two-thirds of U.S. families, according to a report released Oct. 16, 2009 by the Center for American Progress (CAP) and California first lady Maria Shriver.

The report, The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything, was co-authored by, among others, Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation; Heather Boushey, CAP senior economist; Ann O’Leary, CAP senior fellow; and John Halpin, CAP senior fellow.

Pointing out that in 1967 women made up only one third of all U.S. workers, the report said women’s changing roles affect the country’s major societal institutions. The report concluded that today’s families need more flexible work schedules, comprehensive child care policies, redesigned family and medical leave, and equal pay for women.

(more…)

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September 14, 2009

The Lady in Red. A Different Kind of Color Discrimination?

Filed under: General HR Buzz — Tags: , — Jane @ 2:00 pm

According to USA Today, union representatives for Delta flight attendants have complained that the airline only offers their red dress uniform up to size 18.   Those requiring a larger size (up to size 28) are limited to the navy dress.

Has color discrimination taken on a whole new meaning?  Apparently there are also complaints over the reported fact that flight attendants who wear orthopedic shoes (whatever that means) are required to wear pants rather than a dress or skirt.

Additionally, those desiring to wear those comfortable orthopedic shoes must also get a doctor’s note.

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August 10, 2009

Age Discrimination Case Makes Things Easier For Employers

Filed under: Legal Issues — Tags: , , — Jane @ 2:00 pm

In the recently decided case U.S. Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a plaintiff bringing an age discrimination case must prove that but for his age, the adverse job action at issue would not have happened.   Consequently, it’s no longer enough for a plaintiff to show that age discrimination was just a “motivating factor” or there was a “mixed motive.”  The decision makes it much easier for employers to win age bias cases as they are only liable for discriminatory conduct that actually causes an adverse action.

However, employers may not benefit from this ruling for long.  Congress is already talking about reversing it through legislation.

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June 8, 2009

Overtime Violations at the EEOC

Filed under: Employment Law — Tags: , , — Jane @ 1:53 pm

According to the Washington Post, an arbitrator has found that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency tasked with enforcing federal discrimination laws, has been found to have violated federal overtime law.   The case arose out of a grievance filed by the EEOC employees’ union.   In his findings, the arbitrator found nationwide and knowing violations of the Fair Labor Standard Act.  Apparently employees were encouraged (pressured) to work long hours without overtime pay, although there was a practice of offering comp time…which didn’t meet FLSA requirements.   The EEOC, which is handling increasing numbers of discrimination claims and lost 25% of its staff through cuts during the Bush administration, is reviewing the situation.  This case is just one more reminder that nearly every organization, unless it regularly reviews overtime practices, policies, and exempt/nonexempt issues risks FLSA violations.

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May 29, 2009

HR Fact Friday: EEOC Shows Spike in Discrimination Charges

Filed under: Employment Law — Tags: , , , , — Paul @ 1:47 pm

The number of age discrimination claims rose from 19,103 in 2007 to 24,582 in 2008, while retaliation claims rose from 26,663 to 32,690, just hundreds shy of overtaking the perennial number 1 type of charge filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – race discrimination, which rose to 33,937 charges. The figure for age discrimination charges is particularly striking, given that only 16,548 age discrimination charges were filed in fiscal 2006.

Source: HR Magazine, HR Briefs May, 2009

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March 25, 2009

Women Comprise 92% of a RIF and Yet No Discrimination?

Filed under: Employment Law — Tags: , , — Jane @ 3:08 pm

The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has found that terminated female plaintiffs, who claimed discrimination drove decisions in a reduction in force, failed to provide supporting evidence to make their case.  The pro-employer decision came despite the fact that females comprised 53% of the workforce but 92% of those terminated.  Why you ask?

(more…)

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March 13, 2009

HR Fact Friday: EEOC Reports Job Bias Hits Record High

Filed under: Employment Law — Tags: — Paul @ 6:00 am

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that workplace discrimination charge filings with the federal agency nationwide soared to an unprecedented level of 95,402 during Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, which ended Sept. 30. This level is a 15 percent increase from the previous fiscal year. The FY 2008 enforcement and litigation statistics, which include trend data, are available online at http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/enforcement.html

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