Big news for employees and employers in North Carolina -- the General Assembly enacted a bill on Wednesday (signed by Gov. Pat McCrory (R) within hours) that was primarily intended to preempt a certain high-profile municipal "bathroom" ordinance. (More on that in a sec.) But included in the bill is a provision that eliminates the wrongful discharge/public policy cause of ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a "friend of the court" brief in a sexual orientation discrimination appeal, arguing that sexual orientation discrimination is "sex discrimination" prohibited by Title VII. (Thanks to EEOC General Counsel David Lopez for alerting me.)

I am a skeptic on this subject. Title VII was enacted in 1964, and legend has it that sex ...

Last week I heard David Lopez, General Counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, speak about EEOC litigation developments at the annual North Carolina/South Carolina Labor and Employment Law conference.

The EEOC has been litigating like a house afire, so I knew you would want to hear what he had to say. Mr. Lopez - who reads this blog and likes it! - gave me permission to ...

Last September, I posted that the EEOC had filed its first two lawsuits against private employers alleging discrimination based on gender identity.

The EEOC announced this week that one of the lawsuits -- against Lakeland Eye Clinic of Florida -- has settled. The Clinic has agreed to make two payments of $75,000 to Brandi Branson, who had been the Clinic's Director of Hearing Services ...

You're an employer who tries to do the right thing. But what hidden traps are out there, waiting to grab your ankle and yank you into a lawsuit? Here are a few that cause trouble for even the best employers:

Trap No. 5: Capturing all time worked for your non-exempt employees. We get so accustomed to exempt employees who answer emails at all hours and handle business while driving to and from ...

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is dead again. Is there any federal law on same-sex harassment or discrimination? If so, what is it? Here are some scenarios that may be helpful in picking through this crazy extremely complex and rapidly transitioning area of the law. (Answers are provided after Scenario 6, below.)

The American Bar Association is still accepting nominations for ...

ROBIN'S NOTE: Thanks very much to Cara Crotty, head of our Affirmative Action practice group, who allowed me to share her insights about the President's Executive Order here on the blog. This will also be going out today via email as a Constangy Affirmative Action Alert. 

More than two years after expressly declining to do so, this past Monday, President Obama signed an Executive Order

(As the agencies and courts enter their year-end flurry of mischief, I'll be doing quick posts as needed on the latest developments.)

Dum-da-dum-dum!

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has adopted essentially the Strategic Enforcement Plan that I posted about earlier this year. The final version has added "equal pay enforcement" to its list of high priorities. Here is the ...

Well! OK!

It's been an interesting week, hasn't it? Congratulations to President Obama on winning a second term. My Election 2012 coverage would not be complete without some labor and employment prognostications for Obama Administration II.*

*Please do not read these again in 2016 to see how accurate I was. I don't want to be known as the Dick Morris of employment law bloggers.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued yesterday its draft Strategic Enforcement Plan. If you don't have time to slog through all the introductory material, you won't miss a thing if you skip right to Section III (Priorities). The agency proposes that its priorities will be

*Systemic discrimination cases involving recruitment and hiring. No big surprise there ...