Author: Dr. Stuart Lustig, National Medical Director for Behavioral Health, Cigna

The Unprecedented Mental Health Crisis Facing Working Parents in America—And How Employers Can Help

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on us all, but it has created an increasingly challenging environment for working parents in America. Working parents, many of whom are now indefinitely working from home, have spent the last year learning to balance remote learning and child care without the support of loved ones due […]

SCOTUS Limits Scope of Cybersecurity Law

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a ruling interpreting the scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a 1986 federal statute that imposes civil and criminal liability for unauthorized computer access. In short, the Court decided that as long as an individual is authorized to access a computer and data, he doesn’t violate […]

The Rubber Meets the Road—Time for Diversity 2.0

It’s 2021. We’re emerging from a pandemic that has disproportionately sickened and killed underrepresented communities and people of color, we’re passing the 1-year anniversary of the biggest racial justice movement in modern American history, and we’re dealing with a labor market in upheaval in a hiring landscape where talent has more power than ever before. […]

5th Circuit Rejects Fired Transgender Employee’s Discrimination Claim

An employer wasn’t liable to a former employee who alleged he was terminated because he was transgender, the 5th Circuit recently ruled, upholding a Houston federal district court decision. The appeals court said the former employee failed to allege he was treated differently than cisgender employees. The court’s opinion offers guidance on an emerging area […]

Why Long-Term Care Is Taking Center Stage

There’s a recent major development in the insurance world you may not have heard of yet: Washington just became the first state in the nation to develop legislation that makes long-term care affordable for its workers. Called “WA Cares,” this program also impacts companies outside of Washington that have employees in the state.

EEOC

Unchecked Boxes on EEOC Charge Form Halt Bias, Retaliation Claims

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the dismissal of a former employee’s sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation claims because he hadn’t exhausted administrative remedies with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) before filing suit. Although he mentioned sex discrimination and retaliation in the EEOC intake questionnaire, he hadn’t checked the boxes on […]

Carefully Handling Adverse Action Thwarts Employee’s Retaliation Claim

Retaliation claims are the most frequently alleged basis for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the most common finding of wrongdoing, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Often, the underlying discrimination allegations will be dismissed, but a court will determine retaliation occurred.

trends

Why Learning and Development Will Be Better in a Post-Pandemic World

Overnight, most organizations had to completely change how they developed and delivered their training experiences in response to COVID-19. The learning and development (L&D) industry wasn’t known for its agility. Courses often took weeks to develop, and it took months to ensure each employee was able to attend lengthy training sessions in white-walled conference rooms.