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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Our friends at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have issued a Fact Sheet for young workers on religious discrimination in the workplace, which brought me back to the EEOC's older Q&A and Best Practices on religious discrimination, harassment, and accommodation.

The EEOC's guidance is solid, reasonable, and consistent with most (if not all) of the court decisions that I'm ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued a sample "wellness notice" that employers can give to employees before they are asked to provide medical information in connection with wellness-related health risk assessments or biometric screenings.

The notice provides information about employees' rights, and will be required in some form for all wellness plan years ...

And you don’t have the right to remain silent.

On July 1 the federal Office of Management and Budget published the OFCCP's revised Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing that is issued to federal contractors to begin the compliance review process.

The revised Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing is here.

The majority of the changes to the letter, last revised in 2014, provide ...

Did you realize that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission can sue you just for (allegedly) lousy recordkeeping?

No discrimination, no harassment, no retaliation -- just (alleged) failure to keep adequate records.

Well, it's true. Back in 2010, the agency was investigating whether Crothall Services Group's use of criminal background checks and criminal history in making ...

As I've previously reported, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed two lawsuits alleging that employers discriminated against employees based on sexual orientation, which the Commission says is prohibited by Title VII.

One of the lawsuits, filed against Pallet Companies/IFCO Systems, settled this week for $202,200. The former employee will receive $182,200 ...