Recently, a Federal District Court in the Middle District of Tennessee held, in Marie Hastings v. First Community Mortgage, that a female former Human Resource Director’s claim of sex discrimination was not established simply by the fact that she had been excluded from a social group of male executives, even though she alleged in
On June 8th, New Hampshire Governor Christopher Sununu signed into law H.B. 1319, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations. H.B. 1319 defines gender identity as “a person’s gender-related identity, appearance, or behavior, whether or not that gender-related identity, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally associated
In a 7-2 decision yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple based on his devout Christian beliefs. Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, No. 16-111 (June 4, 2018). Although the case received heightened
Before the expiration of the extended deadline last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received over 100 comments to its proposed Enforcement Guidance (“Proposed Guidance”) on workplace harassment. The revised guidance is the first revision to the EEOC’s workplace harassment guidance since the 1990s and the result of the July 2016 report by the
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s summary judgment dismissal on behalf of our client, USF Holland. The disability discrimination case involved a truck driver who sought to switch from a city driver to a line-haul driver position based on his claim that he could not perform
President Obama has proposed the American Jobs Act as a way to increase employment and head off a double dip recession. It has five key components, according to an administration briefing to the National Small Business Association this afternoon. They are 1. Tax Cuts for small business, including significant reductions in payroll taxes; 2. Rebuild
Not content with managing its current workload, the EEOC is looking for new theories of discrimination. It held a hearing yesterday to consider whether employers may be refusing to consider job applicants who are unemployed, and then whether that “practice” might amount to discrimination. The argument would go something like: minorities have a higher unemployment