Louise Davies is an Affirmative Action Paralegal in Constangy's Winston-Salem, North Carolina, office. For more than 15 years, she has helped employers develop affirmative action plans and respond to audits and on-site investigations by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. She also conducts diversity training for employers. Louise is a graduate of Wesleyan ...

In one of the many lawsuits* filed in North Carolina related to the notorious H.B. 2, Judge Thomas Schroeder of the Middle District of North Carolina has preliminarily enjoined the University of North Carolina from enforcing the "bathroom" provisions of the law with respect to three individual transgender plaintiffs. Here is a copy of Judge Schroeder's decision.

*UPDATE ...

Employers, has this ever happened to you?

An employee has accused her boss of sexual harassment. Right now, it's her word against his, but you might be able to find out the truth if you interview her co-workers.

The only trouble with that is, you don't want to do anything to undermine the supervisor before you even know whether he's guilty. So, maybe you do a superficial investigation ...

UPDATE (10/17/16): As expected, the EEOC has appealed the District Court's decision described below to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Last week, I reported that summary judgment was granted against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in its transgender discrimination lawsuit against R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, linked to the decision (but here it is ...

*The Summer 2016 edition of Preventive Medicine, our health care industry publication, is out, featuring an article by Susan Bassford Wilson on the ever-changing law on LGBT discrimination. We also have the EEOC's latest LGBT charge-filing statistics, and all the latest employment law news of interest to health care employers since our Spring 2016 edition.

*The much-dreaded final ...

The date for the U.S. Secretary of Labor to issue regulations establishing paid sick leave for covered employees of certain federal contractors is fast approaching.

By way of background, on September 7, 2015, President Obama signed Executive Order 13706, "Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors." The Executive Order requires certain federal contractors to provide ...

Remember EEOC v. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes? This was the transgender discrimination case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against a suburban Detroit funeral home chain for allegedly discriminating against an employee after she began presenting as a female. It's one of the few cases where the employer actually fought back, with the help of the Alliance ...

Employers, when was the last time you had a real makeover? Let's do one now!

The new white-collar exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act will go into effect December 1, but it's a good idea for employers to prepare now because there are a lot of changes that will have to be made, communicated, and taught to employees before then.

The salary threshold for most white-collar ...

Federal contractors, be warned: If you have not properly reviewed (and validated!) any testing used as part of your hiring process, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs may take issue . . . and seek to collect big dollars.

In May, the OFCCP announced that it reached a $1.85 million settlement with Gordon Food Services after determining that GFS used a ...

What a week for aging. According to one study, people age 65 and older will outnumber people age 15 and younger worldwide by the year 2030. This is referred to as a "population plague."

In more bad news for younger older people, Lydia DePillis, writing for The Washington Post, had an article titled "Baby boomers are taking on ageism -- and losing." From what I could tell, her ...

As of October 1, “places of public accommodation” in Massachusetts will be prohibited from discriminating based on gender identity. That is, persons accessing a “place of public accommodation” must be permitted to use gender-segregated locations (such as restrooms and locker rooms) consistent with their gender identity. Any place that is open to and accepts or solicits ...

Hot dawg! Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete has been named by Vault.com as the best law firm in the country for women lawyers and the best law firm in the country for minority lawyers. Heather Owen has the whole wonderful story at FOCUS, our women's leadership blog. This latest honor comes on the heels of our having been named by the National Law Journal as fourth best law firm for ...

The 2016 Industry Liaison Group National Conference was held last week in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sylvia Smith, an Affirmative Action Specialist from our firm's Atlanta Office, and I had the pleasure and privilege of attending and presenting this year. The headliners, as usual, were Patricia Shiu, Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and ...

Is wearing a "Don't Tread on Me" cap to work a form of racial harassment?

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it could be, even though the EEOC acknowledges that the Gadsden Flag "originated in the Revolutionary War in a non-racial context," and has been "used to express various non-racial sentiments." Such as support of the Tea Party and the Second Amendment to ...

UPDATE (10/14/16): The Hively decision discussed below was issued by a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit. This week, the full Seventh Circuit set aside the decision and agreed to rehear the case with all of the judges participating. Here is a copy of the order. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided last week in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College that sexual ...

Last call!

Voting for the ABA Blawg 100 will close at 11:59 p.m. Central Time this Sunday, August 7. If you have not already done so and are inclined, we would very much appreciate your going HERE and giving Employment & Labor Insider (and our sister blog, FOCUS) your vote. You don't have to be a lawyer, and it won't take but a minute. Thank you!

Massachusetts has had a "comparable worth" law forever, but Gov. Charlie Baker just signed some amendments that will make it easier for women (and men) to assert pay equity claims. In addition to making it easier for plaintiffs to prove that two jobs are "substantially similar," the law prohibits asking for salary history before a conditional offer of employment has been made ...

Louise Davies is an Affirmative Action Paralegal in Constangy's Winston-Salem, North Carolina, office. For more than 15 years, she has helped employers develop affirmative action plans and respond to audits and on-site investigations by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. She also conducts diversity training for employers. Louise is a graduate of Wesleyan ...