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?
Even just a few years ago, the concept of using artificial intelligence (AI) in everyday life was a novel, if somewhat intimidating, concept. But from Google’s AI overview to Microsoft’s Copilot, many of us use AI daily to help increase efficiency and streamline certain processes. If you are an employer using AI to sort through
This week President Donald Trump nominated attorney Jonathan Berry to be the next solicitor of the Department of Labor (DOL). Berry worked in the department during the first Trump administration, and he was the sole author of Chapter 18 of Project 2025’s treatise Mandate for Leadership, which contained a set of policy recommendations for
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.
At some point, every employer will need to investigate an employee’s complaint. An investigation is an important tool that employers can use to fix a workplace problem and minimize liability. Or, an investigation can create extra risk for employers over and above the risk of the original workplace issue. That extra risk arises when an
What does the EEOC have to do with smart watches, rings, glasses, helmets and other devices that track bodily movement and other data? These devices, known as “wearables,” can track location, brain activity, heart rate, and other mental or physical information about the wearer, which has led some employers to require their employees to wear
Harassment prevention is still a top priority for federal agencies (which means it should be a priority for all employers). Last spring, we blogged about the EEOC’s guidance on this issue, and now the OFCCP has issued its own guidance, this time focusing on harassment in the construction industry.
There is nothing particularly
In recent weeks, the EEOC has filed a number of lawsuits on behalf of individuals, alleging a range of employment claims. Here, we provide a brief overview of those lawsuits and the issues that may be on the EEOC’s mind.
As you likely know, a current or former employee bringing certain claims against