Back when my workplace nightmare first began in 1992, during an 11-year tenure at New York City Transit that ended in termination on the heels of a hard-fought federal court victory, there was no such thing as “workplace bullying”. Bullying – or at least the term – was reserved for what one mean-spirited kid did …
Workplace Bullying vs. Workplace Harassment: Is There a Difference? Read More »
Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court narrowed the definition of “supervisor” for purposes of employment-related claims. Specifically, on Monday, June 24, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in Vance v. Ball State University, et al., that, under the federal Title VII discrimination statute, an employer can be held vicariously liable for an employee’s unlawful …
Supreme Court Narrows Definition of “Supervisor” Under Title VII Read More »
In one way or another, we agree to contracts with fixed terms every day: before downloading music on iTunes, buying a cell phone plan, or taking out a student loan. More and more, another area in which the terms of contracts may be non-negotiable is in the area of employment, as individuals desperate for a …
Federal Employee Wins Appeal On Sex And Age Discrimination Claim Lawyers representing employees in discrimination cases are forever frustrated by federal district court judges whom routinely grant summary judgment to employers instead of allowing cases to proceed to trial for a jury determination. This recent case of Bartlett v.Gates, in which the Sixth Circuit Court of …
Turning the Other Cheek: Illegal Retaliation in the Workplace If someone went to your employer and said you were discriminating against them, wouldn’t you hold a grudge? Wouldn’t you want to get them fired, and if you couldn’t do that, at least make their lives more difficult? Of course you would (and if you honestly …
Turning the Other Cheek: Illegal Retaliation in the Workplace Read More »
After months of complaining that a female co-worker had repeatedly harassed him to have sex with her, Rudolpho Lamas’s boss offered a suggestion. Maybe, the boss said, Rudolpho should try walking around the office singing, “I’m too sexy for my shirt.” Everyone at work thought the situation was hilarious: a widower turning down the explicit …
Crossing the Line: The Ninth Circuit’s Guidelines for Flirting at Work Read More »
Hearings Held On Federal Discrimination Bill To Overturn Gross Decision Last week, both the House and Senate held hearings on the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (POWADA) (H.R. 3721, S. 1756). The legislation would overturn the awful Gross v. FBL Financials Services, Inc. case decided by the Supreme Court last year. If passed, the …
Direct Evidence Of Age Discrimination Gets Plaintiff Jury Trial: Court Wrongfully Applied Mixed Motive Standard To Bounce The Case It’s hard to believe that this age discrimination victim got thrown out of court and had to go to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals for a reversal but here’s what happened in the recently decided …
Sex Discrimination Against Men Violates Title VII Sex Discrimination Against Men Violates Title VII It’s not often that you see cases involving discrimination against men, but in the last few weeks the EEOC has reported two noteworthy settlements. The Sex Discrimination Case Against Lawry’s In early November, the EEOC announced a $1,025,000 settlement of a class …
Big Settlements In Two Male Sex Discrimination Cases Read More »
Good luck to anyone who is trying to figure out what is going on with the Gross v. FBL Financial Services case argued in the Supreme Court yesterday. I have been doing this work for three decades and I think it’s almost impossible. The questions presented are: In a “mixed-motive” age discrimination case — where both …
Supreme Court Hears “Mixed-Motive” Age Discrimination Case 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.
