It’s a scenario that has become familiar to almost anyone who works in an office. After “recent events around the country,” a well-meaning sexual harassment educator comes in to teach the letter of the law. The mandatory training provides information on “each and every sexual harassment law,” but the effects fall somewhere between useless and …
This is why workplace harassment training is so ineffective Read More »
You should expect your employer to establish a strong safety culture that results in an injury-free, healthy, non-hostile workplace. Unfortunately, OSHA can only do so much to establish what “safe and healthy” means, or to enforce those protocols. Many people, like those at Public Citizen, recognize that “government protection of workers is far from adequate.” …
Workplace Safety: Expect Excellence From Your Employer Read More »
Many people with disabilities face barriers before they even get their foot in the door. But the hiring process is only one form of disability discrimination. Employers — including federal agencies and government contractors — are legally obligated to accommodate disabilities. But what is considered a “reasonable” accommodation? What if the employer says no? What …
Failure to Accommodate is Disability Discrimination Read More »
Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lent his support to the historic Memphis sanitation workers’ strike. Today, the safe working conditions that strikers fought for in 1968 remain elusive for low-wage workers in one Memphis warehouse. Workers at the XPO Logistics warehouse in Memphis announced in early April that they had filed a …
Toiling Over a “Puddle of Blood”: Why These Warehouse Workers Are Standing Up to Abuses Read More »
It’s no secret that NFL cheerleaders are underpaid, undervalued, and held to ridiculous beauty standards by NFL organizations. But on Sunday, the New York Times published an infuriating report that reveals that some teams exert almost maniacal control over both the public image and personal lives of cheerleaders — all based on toxic, outdated notions of how …
U.S. employers have never been particularly accepting of unions. Yes, there were a few decades after World War II when most employers engaged in a largely stable pattern of collective bargaining that recognized unions as junior partners in industry. Wage increases kept pace with gains in productivity, and union endorsements were courted by both parties. …
How Bosses Use “Open Shop” Campaigns to Crush Unions Read More »
In Hollywood, the cat is out of the bag. Scores of women (and men) are pouring out pent-up tales of sexual assaults and sexual harassment by famous producers, directors and actors. Every day brings new accusations against some movie icon. A group of women at Weinstein Co. has asked to be released from nondisclosure agreements …
Do Nondisclosure Agreements Perpetuate a Toxic Workplace Culture? Read More »
Over the past few days, more and more men have continued to resign or at the very least publicly confront accusations of sexual harassment, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down. On Wednesday, former President George H.W. Bush apologized for groping actress Heather Lind (with a caveat that it was an “attempt at …
The pay gap and sexual harassment must be addressed simultaneously Read More »
In a conundrum with profound implications, a federal appeals court will revisit whether – in some circumstances — men can be paid more than women for the same job. On the surface, that conflicts with the Equal Pay Act. But a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit ruled in April that salary history could justify …
9th Circuit Revists Ruling on Unequal Pay in Some Situations Read More »
Former President Obama intended to fight pay discrimination with a rule requiring businesses to track how much they pay different groups of workers. You know the next part, right? Of course you do. Donald Trump is blocking the rule from going into effect as scheduled next spring because it’s just too hard for businesses to report how …
Trump blocks Obama effort to combat pay discrimination Read More »
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.
