Employers beware: An employee does not have to use “magic words” to complain about discrimination for it to lay the basis for a retaliation claim. The Sixth Circuit made this point in a unanimous opinion in the case of Mumm v. Charter Township of Superior.
FactsSusan Mumm complained to her employer, the Township,
When you promote someone into a position, do you have to pay him what you paid his predecessor? As with so many things – it depends. Can you pay less if the promotee has less experience and a lower prior salary than the predecessor? Maybe. However, if the new promotee is a female replacing a
Ever wonder why the severance agreement that I (or your other favorite employment lawyer) send you says “nothing in this Agreement prevents Employee from filing a charge with the EEOC” (or words to that effect)? I mean, isn’t that the point of the agreement? You pay the employee money, and he or she can’t file
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo to all U.S. Attorneys revising how the Department of Justice will address gender identity claims under Title VII. In 2014, the Obama Administration DOJ stated that gender identity discrimination, including that against transgender individuals, was illegal under Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination. AG Sessions’ memo reversed
When is it safe to take action against an employee (or a former employee) who filed an EEOC charge against you? As the 7th Circuit just found in Baines v. Walgreen Co., you can never –REPEAT, NEVER – take action because an employee filed a claim. In Baines, the court ruled that
On Tuesday, the Seventh Circuit jumped into the Title VII sexual orientation discussion with both feet. In Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, a full-court reversed an earlier three judge panel decision, finding that discrimination based solely upon the employee’s sexual orientation is sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII. As the opinion
If you weren’t sure what it meant to discriminate against someone because of their national origin, the EEOC wants to help. The newly revised Section 13 of the EEOC Field Manual provides guidance on how the EEOC defines national origin (which is more than just what nation in which you originated) and gives examples of
Just how broad is the EEOC’s subpoena power and are we likely to get some guidance soon? We’ve said before that the McLane v. EEOC case (which is about the EEOC’s subpoena power and is currently before the Supreme Court) is uncertain given President Trump’s election. Since then, we have had two developments: first, President
When does workplace hugging go too far? The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently weighed in with an opinion. Victoria Zetwick, a county correctional officer, based her Title VII hostile work environment suit almost entirely upon her supervisor’s practice of hugging her and the rest of the female staff.
Just How Much Hugging?
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Last week the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a case the EEOC filed over a job applicant’s short dreadlocks. In 2010, Chastity Jones, an African American, applied for a position with CMS, a claims processing company in Mobile, Alabama. Ms. Jones showed up for her interview in a