Employee activity on social media is a hot topic. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed a case in which a university employee was denied opportunities following a Twitter tirade. The court affirmed that the university did not discriminate against the employee, did not violate the First Amendment, and upheld the university’s actions. This
In, Stanley v. City of Sanford, Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the scope of the Americans with Disabilities Act, holding that Title I’s employment discrimination provisions do not apply to individuals who are retired and no longer hold or seek employment. The decision, a 7-2 majority written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, gives employers
If a qualified job candidate asks to reschedule a second-round interview due to severe menstrual cramps associated with endometriosis, is that a request for an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act? If you deny the request, could it be the basis of a sex discrimination claim under Title VII? The EEOC thinks so and
Before June 5, 2025, the law (at least in some jurisdictions) was that majority-group employees (e.g., white or heterosexual) had to show additional “background circumstances” in addition to a prima facie case to prove discrimination – a heightened evidentiary standard. However, the U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected the “background circumstances” rule in Ames v. Ohio
If you have a grooming policy based on safety factors (like no beards for firefighters), does that trump an employee’s request for a religious accommodation? Maybe not. A recent Third Circuit decision, Smith v. City of Atlantic City, et al., addressed this issue and partially reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in
Earlier this month, in Strife v. Aldine Independent School District, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employer’s delayed accommodation of an employee’s disability could amount to a failure to accommodate under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This case serves as an important reminder not only to take all requests for disability
Can you compel arbitration with an employee who is alleging sexual harassment? You may recall that in 2022, Congress enacted the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA), which precludes employers from requiring employees to arbitrate sexual harassment claims. But what if the alleged harassment occurred before the EFAA effective date?
As you know, there’s been a frenzy around DEI initiatives this year in the of wake President Trump’s executive orders regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. We addressed the executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” here, and our Bradley colleagues in the Government Contracts Practice Group weighed in on DEI
In Title VII actions, plaintiffs have a limited amount of time to file a charge of discrimination (or a court can dismiss the case as untimely). In the case of Wells v. Texas Tech University, the timeliness dynamic was further complicated by a question of whether unpaid participation in a program can make you
Can you still have DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs? How about affirmative action plans? The Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard garnered national attention in holding that Harvard’s admissions program, which used race as a factor in admissions, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.