Tag: EEOC

Disability Etiquette: A Primer

The Disability Access Office in San Antonio, Texas, has published The Disability Etiquette Handbook. The handbook, which is on the web, covers a variety of issues. We thought we’d give you a sample. Reception Etiquette Greeting someone with a disability often makes a person without a disability awkward and uncomfortable. That doesn’t make you a […]

Ninth Circuit Reinstates Male Worker’s Harassment Claim

A federal trial court in Nevada apparently couldn’t believe that a woman’s sexual overtures to a male coworker would ever be unwelcome and rejected the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) attempt to file a harassment suit on his behalf. But in a recent decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Alaska, Arizona, […]

EEOC Issues Final GINA Regs

Final regulations implementing the employment provisions (Title II) of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) were issued today by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). GINA prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or applicants on the basis of genetic information about the employee, applicant, or their family members.

Nine Years Later: Religion and National Origin in the Workplace

For a week, the nation’s news reporters were captivated by a Florida preacher’s plans to burn the Quran on the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Although he ultimately backed down, his campaign and the heated debates and protests over planned mosques near ground zero and in other parts of the country have drawn […]

Ninth Circuit Again Allows EEOC to Pursue Navajo-Preference Claim

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 allows employers on or near an Indian reservation to give preferential treatment to Indians living in the vicinity. But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) takes the position that this provision doesn’t permit preference for members of a particular tribe. In the continuing saga of a […]

Quick, Name Biggest Workplace Legal Issue of 2010 So Far

What is the biggest employment law challenge employers have been facing thus far in 2010? An easy answer might be health care reform since companies have indeed started wrestling with whether to grandfather their benefits plans or strike off in a new direction under new sets of rules and regulations. But for many employment law […]

Trying to Go Paperless? Guidelines for Electronic Personnel Documents

by Joseph C. Pettygrove Employers are increasingly looking at the feasibility of scanning hard copies of various types of employment documents and retaining only the electronic copies in the routine course of business. Generally speaking, you are allowed to do that if you ensure that your electronic record maintenance systems are secure, accurate, reliable, and […]

Administaff Pays $115,000 For Religious Bias

Administaff, Inc., a nationwide company that provides full-service HR services to small and medium-size businesses, has agreed to pay $115,000 and furnish substantial remedial relief to settle a religious harassment lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in Baltimore. According to the EEOC’s suit, Texas-based Administaff and Conn-x, LLC, a Florida-based cable service […]

EEOC: ‘Interact Before You Act’ on Disability Accommodation

The 2008 ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA), which went into effect on January 1, 2009, greatly expanded the number of medical conditions that likely will be recognized as disabilities under the law. More disabilities mean more accommodation requests and more opportunities for employers to be second-guessed by the government and the courts on how they respond […]