Workers employed in low-wage and poorly regulated industries (most prominently restaurants, residential construction, domestic cleaning, and mechanics) are confronted with staggering exploitation as employers look to cut corners in today’s recession. Such exploitation includes health and safety violations, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, firing for participating in union activity, and wage theft—failure to pay workers for …
Female Officer Wins Big In Fight For Discriminatory Denial Of Promotion It’s not uncommon for women to be passed over for promotions they deserve – but proving gender discrimination has been difficult. The good news is that the recent decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Risch v. Royal Oak Police Department will …
Important Decision From Sixth Circuit in Discriminatory Failure to Promote Case Read More »
When employees are fired for misconduct, employers often think that they have an airtight defense to any charges of wrongful discharge. But that’s often not so. The case of Upshaw v. Ford Motor Company, decided last week by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, brought this point home. What Happened In The Case Here’s a …
Trumped-Up Reasons For Termination Can Prove Retaliatory Discharge Read More »
In this down economy, many employers are undergoing layoffs of workers. Certainly, it can be harder to prove that your termination was discriminatory or retaliatory when many others are suffering the same fate as you are. But ask yourself this: was the layoff legitimately based upon financial reasons, and if so, why were you chosen? …
Just Because It’s a Layoff, Doesn’t Mean You’re Out of Options Read More »
Mike Zimmer (Loyola), co-author of the leading casebook on employment discrimination and friend of the blog has provided these thoughts on the Supreme Court’s Ricci decision from yesterday. 1. The Holding. The defendants’ decision to not use test results because their use would have meant that no African-American and only two Hispanics, who made up …
Tomorrow, March 24th, Betty Dukes and the now two million women who are members of the largest sex-discrimination class action case, Dukes v. Wal-Mart, move one step closer to victory. A panel of 11 judges of the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear Wal-Mart’s latest attempt to stop this case from moving forward …
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
