Discrimination against persons with disabilities still occurs. Read a humorous take on one person’s experience as the handicapped person at Harvard law School and her years afterward. Carrie Griffin Basas was tempted to offer her cane to law partners staring at her with mouths open as she showed up for on-campus interviews. One professor kept
What to do if the Boss is the Harasser
Ohio Employer’s Law blog writes another good post on what to do if the boss is the harasser. See post. Jon Hyman refers to a specific case, EEOC v. Fairbrook Medical Clinic, (4th Cir. 6/18/10), a sex harassment case. In this case, the harasser was accused of several harassing incidents:
- repeatedly showing an
Texas Supremes Are At It Again
Sigh, our Texas Supreme Court is at it again. In a recent decision, the Court conflated personal injury claims with sexual harassment and other froms of discrimination. See Waffle House, Inc. v. Williams. The Court found that claims based on assault and negligent supervision are preempted by the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act. The
Report Details Wal-Mart’s Gender Bias 15 Years Ago
It was significant news when a class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart was certified a few weeks ago. Class action lawsuits are always significant, but especially so when the employer is Wal-Mart. I talked previously about the court ruling allowing the class certification. See blog post.
Now, someone at Wal-Mart leaked a report to
Woman Fired for Being Too Attractive
A woman in New York filed suit alleging she was fired essentially because she was too attractive. See report. According to the lawsuit allegations, the former employee at Citibank was criticized by male co-workers because her curvaceous figure was too distracting in standard business attire and high heels. The plaintiff claimed in the
Jokes About Not Eating Pork Can be Costly
Every so often someone will claim that discrimination is gone or mostly gone. Yet, evidence of bias pops up everywhere. In a recent trial in a patent infringement case in Marshall, Texas, a witness from Israel was testifying. The defense lawyer was cross examining the Israeli witness. Asking about the witness’ lunch meeting at Bodacious
Dallas Jury Awards $3.6 Million
A Dallas jury awarded $3.6 million to an Egyptian-American doctor who sued for race and religious discrimination. See report. It all started when the employer, UT Southwestern, asked Dr. Nassar to commit billing fraud. Dr. Nassar refused. He then felt constant discrimination and harassment and resigned in 2006.
It took the jury in
Houston Prohibits Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
Houston added gender identity and sexual orientation as protected classes to its anti-discrimination policies. The policy prohibits discrimination, retaliation or harassment based on gender identity or sexual orientation in contracting, the City’s hiring practices and in City vending activities. Houston, of course, just recently elected its first openly gay mayor. See report.
Novartis Must Pay $250m in Punitive Damages
The jury returned an award of punitive damages in the amount of $250 million against Novartis Pharmaceuticals. See report. I discussed this case the other day. This is the case where a manager told a female applicant, apparently when discussing flex time, "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes flex time and
Failure to Follow Progressive Discipline Helps Show Discrimination
Progressive discipline. I wish I had a nickel for every potential client who told me the employer did
not follow the progressive discipline policy and, instead, fired the potential client after only one (or none) write-ups. Well, as I have mentioned elsewhere on this blog, the employee handbooks are not binding on the employer. Many