This week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a proposed Enforcement Guidance on workplace harassment. It's 75 pages long, so a little too much to cover in a single blog post. The EEOC is seeking comments from the public until February 9, so I will start with the comment-worthy provisions. Next week, I'll post about the proposed Guidance more generally. Overall, the ...

Happy Holidays!  It's that time of year again.  A feeling of excitement in the air, presents, parties, frivolity, EEOC charges . . . No, this is not a guessing game of “which word doesn’t fit.” With the end of the year coming to a close, and the holiday season culminating with one of the biggest Christian holidays of the year, EEOC charges and other workplace complaints are bound to ...

Feeling whipsawed?

Last summer, I reported on the Hively v. Ivy Tech decision, in which a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that discrimination based on sexual orientation is not "sex discrimination" or unlawful sex stereotyping that violates Title VII. That decision has since been vacated, and the case will be heard again on November 30 by ...

I'm a week late with this follow-up. (Sorry.)

Two weeks ago, I posted about an employee (fictionally named "Zoey") who had a peanut allergy. After she asked a peanut-butter-loving co-worker ("Addison") to be considerate, Zoey found a big glob of peanut butter smeared under her desk, which caused her to get sick. Addison denied being responsible.

To recap from last time:

*I said I ...

Karla Miller of the "WorkAdvice" column in the Washington Post had a doozy last week.

I'm going to assume that all the people involved in this story are female. I'm probably wrong, but that will allow me to make up fake names for them.

PEANUT BUTTER PASSION

The letter writer (let's call her Zoey), had a peanut allergy and worked in a small office. Zoey asked a co-worker (let's call her ...

I spent some time yesterday at the new Small Business Resource Center, which went live this week on the website of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. I think it's great.

Small businesses, which may be just below or at the cusp of coverage by federal anti-discrimination laws, are often confused about (1) whether they are covered, and (2) if so, what they need to do.

The EEOC ...

Labor Day marked the beginning of the "serious" election season. In 2012, I posted on dos and don'ts for employers, but many of my old recommendations aren't going to work in today's labor law climate. Here's an updated guide to help employers and their employees survive to November 8, and beyond, which I think will comply with the latest positions of the National Labor Relations ...

This just in, via Law360: Fox News has settled Gretchen Carlson's sexual harassment lawsuit against former CEO Roger Ailes for a (reported) whopping $20 million. That's less than the reported $60 million contract buyout of Mr. Ailes, but still pretty good.

Since the link to Law360 won't work, and it requires a paid subscription anyway, here's a link to an article in Vanity Fair

Employers should beware of being too quick to believe an employee who accuses a co-worker of wrongdoing. If the accuser has an illegal motive (such as discrimination or retaliation), and if the employer is "negligent" in investigating before taking action against the co-worker, then the employer could be legally responsible.

So says the U.S. Court of Appeals for ...

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 ...