Federal LGBTQ+ workplace protections could land some schools in hot water

Schools could be caught between proposed EEOC guidance and state policies restricting facility access and pronoun usage for transgender employees.

By Naaz Modan • Oct. 10, 2023

Employee’s firing 1 day after exhausting FMLA leave raises questions, 5th Cir. says

Ignoring its progressive discipline policy, a Texas city allegedly decided to fire an employee within minutes after she didn’t show up for work, according to the court record.

By Laurel Kalser • Oct. 9, 2023

Ex-HR manager asks for jury trial, claims she was fired for raising race bias concerns

Video game publisher Bungie unlawfully retaliated against the plaintiff after she objected to the firing of a Black employee, her suit alleged.

By Ryan Golden • Oct. 6, 2023

Conservative legal group wants EEOC to strike out MLB’s diversity initiatives

America First Legal, led by former Trump Administration Advisor Stephen Miller, said MLB’s programs are discriminatory.

By Ginger Christ • Oct. 6, 2023

‘Nothing to promote safety’: EEOC slams Union Pacific Railroad for disability discrimination

The railroad required workers to take an unnecessary “light cannon” test, the EEOC alleged.

By Caroline Colvin • Oct. 5, 2023

Starbucks asks Supreme Court to intervene in union fight

If the Supreme Court sided with Starbucks, the change would make it more difficult for the National Labor Relations Board to reinstate, in a timely fashion, workers fired for protected activity.

By Aneurin Canham-Clyne • Oct. 5, 2023

Research center refused to hire Asian applicants as COVID-19 contact tracers, DOL alleges

An OFCCP evaluation found that the organization discriminated against more than 100 Asian job applicants, DOL said.

By Ryan Golden • Oct. 4, 2023

Under Democratic control, EEOC makes ‘roaring return’ to high levels of litigation

The agency more than doubled its discrimination lawsuits in fiscal year 2023.

By Ginger Christ • Oct. 3, 2023

EEOC proposes harassment guidance covering misgendering, remote work

The enforcement document is more than half a decade in the making.

By Ryan Golden • Oct. 2, 2023

Wingstop franchisee in California cited $3M for labor violations

The owner created separate corporate entities for his restaurants, depriving employees of a higher minimum wage, overtime pay and meal break premiums, the state alleged.

By Emilie Shumway • Oct. 2, 2023

Appeals court says Hyatt wrongfully delayed paying out vacation time in COVID-19-driven layoffs

In making the decision, the court had to turn to California labor documentation from over 20 years ago.

By Ginger Christ • Oct. 2, 2023

Tyson, Hormel face class action over worker compensation

Executives allegedly held secret meetings and “off-the-books” dinners to discuss worker pay rates, supporting a “plausible inference” of a conspiracy to suppress wages.

By Nathan Owens • Oct. 2, 2023

Judge rejects employer’s argument that DOL’s FLSA salary test is illegal

An Austin, Texas, restaurant operator claimed the agency lacked statutory authority to set a minimum salary threshold for executive, administrative and professional employees.

By Ryan Golden • Sept. 29, 2023

EEOC alleges Chipotle supervisor pulled on, removed Muslim worker’s hijab

The case may point to the need for anti-harassment training for managers.

By Emilie Shumway • Sept. 29, 2023

Racial slurs ‘casual and normal’ at Tesla factory, EEOC says

In a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, the agency alleged a pervasive pattern of racism against Black employees at the carmaker’s plant in Fremont.

By Kalena Thomhave • Sept. 29, 2023

Waste Pro, GFL face EEOC lawsuits over race and sex discrimination complaints

EEOC says female applicants were systematically denied truck driver jobs at GFL’s Waste Industries and Trans Waste locations. Separately, the agency says Waste Pro failed to intervene when a Black worker faced racial slurs.

By Megan Quinn • Sept. 28, 2023

Black employees say working at TikTok was ‘​an absolute nightmare’

One of the workers alleged the app’s parent company, ByteDance, retaliated against her after she complained of unfair treatment and derogatory name-calling by a supervisor.

By Ginger Christ • Sept. 26, 2023

NLRB dings Starbucks for cracking down on union T-shirts

Employees also were illegally barred from writing customer-provided, pro-union monikers on cups, among other violations, NLRB found. 

By Emilie Shumway • Sept. 26, 2023

Tyson, Perdue under investigation following reports of child labor at slaughterhouses

The poultry companies face a federal probe after a New York Times Magazine article detailed a 14-year-old being maimed by equipment at a Virginia plant.

By Chris Casey • Sept. 26, 2023

Labeling workers independent contractors doesn’t make it so, 5th Cir. warns

A business was subject to Title VII because its nearly 50 caregivers were employees, not independent contractors, the court held.

By Laurel Kalser • Sept. 25, 2023

EEOC sets its enforcement sights on AI, bias against vulnerable workers

The commission placed the elimination of barriers in employers’ recruitment and hiring practices at the top of its subject matter priorities.

By Ryan Golden • Sept. 25, 2023

Federal workplace pregnancy protections pose new questions for HR

Employers should be aware of how the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act intersects with the Americans with Disabilities Act, speakers said in a virtual event Wednesday.

By Ryan Golden • Sept. 25, 2023

HR pros say IBM fired them due to their age, planned to replace them with AI

The lawsuit represents the latest in a series of age discrimination claims against IBM stretching several years.

By Ryan Golden • Sept. 22, 2023

EEOC: Appliance store denied accommodation to, terminated employee with long COVID

Notably, EEOC’s pursuit of the case shows the agency is willing to consider long COVID disability cases from early in the pandemic — before the condition was apparent.

By Emilie Shumway • Sept. 22, 2023

UPS driver asks SCOTUS to take up ADA reasonable accommodation question

The 4th Circuit broke with the high court’s precedent by conflating equipment modification with a change in essential job functions, the employee said.

By Ryan Golden • Sept. 21, 2023