Tag: Equal Employment Opportunity

Proposed Harassment Guidance Broadens Employers’ Obligations Under EEO Law

On October 2, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published in the Federal Register its notice of proposed guidance on “Enforcement Guidance of Harassment in the Workplace.” The guidance incorporates updates reflecting current case law governing workplace harassment and addresses the proliferation of digital technology and how social media postings and other off-work […]

Diversity and inclusion: America’s CEOs are showing the path forward

by David S. Fortney and H. Juanita M. Beecher We should honor—not attack—those who have stood up for equality and other cherished American values. —Intel CEO Brian Krzanich upon his resignation from the American Manufacturing Council The summer of 2017 has shown that American business is committed to, and prepared to defend, broad-based EEO and […]

Train Against Bad Habits, and Avoid Lawsuits Like These

The adage “old habits die hard” seems particularly applicable to a rash of lawsuits recently filed and settled by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). There is no shortage of cases such as these, and they are good reminders that strong antidiscrimination and antiharassment policies, ongoing training, and stringent oversight are absolutely essential for an […]

Train Leaders to Practice ‘Defensive Management’ Best Practices

  To recap, attorneys representing aggrieved employees in discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage and hour, and other types of employment claims love allegations of supervisor wrongdoing because that’s the “smoking gun” they need to paint that supervisor as a villain—whose statements, acts, decisions, and omissions should result in liability for the employer. Also, such acts may […]

Are You Training Your Leaders on ‘Defensive Management’ Best Practices?

  At some point, every workplace is faced with allegations that a supervisor behaved badly. Perhaps it was a stray remark about a disability, age, or race. Or maybe they treated someone in a way that wouldn’t pass the smell test under the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities […]

Are Your Managers Trained on the ADA and Diabetes?

  Employees with diabetes are covered by the ADA. There is no dispute that diabetes is a diagnosed physical impairment that limits a major life activity and thus meets the ADA definition of disability. (Major life activities include the functioning of major bodily systems like the endocrine system; diabetes, by definition, substantially limits the endocrine […]

What Should Be Included in Antiharassment Training?

Does your organization provide antiharassment training for employees and managers? One of the main reasons antiharassment training is important is that employers have an obligation to provide a safe workplace—one that is free of harassment. If an employer does not take proactive steps to ensure such an environment, that employer will find it much more […]