Questioning Religious Beliefs: Is It Worth The Fight?

Two recent COVID-19 vaccine accommodation decisions illustrate the potential cost and disruption of disputes over the sincerity of an employee’s professed religious belief. In one case, a jury found that an employee failed to establish a sincere religious objection to vaccination. In the other, a federal court allowed a religious discrimination claim to proceed based largely on allegations that the...

Second Circuit Finds Refusal To Discuss Settlement May Constitute Protected Activity

An employee's refusal to even discuss settling a discrimination claim may be protected activity, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled. The employee asserted that she had pursued discrimination and retaliation claims for years before she declined the employer’s requested meeting and that she later experienced additional retaliation, including termination. The decision addresses an unusual retaliation...

EEOC And Labor Department Continue Outreach Campaign Focused On Protecting American Workers

Recent actions by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Labor Department indicate that the Trump administration is maintaining its focus on employment practices that it perceives as disadvantaging American workers. EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas has used social media and video messages to encourage workers to report alleged anti-American discrimination, while the agency's redesigned homepage prominently features related resources. Meanwhile,...

Judge Says Offensive Conduct Need Not Target An Employee To Affect The Workplace

Harassment investigations should look beyond conduct directed at the employee who raised the concern, according to a recent D.C. Circuit concurrence. It challenges a line of lower-court decisions that discounted discriminatory conduct that was not directed at the employee alleging a hostile work environment. The concurrence argues that this approach is too narrow because offensive conduct involving coworkers, customers, or others may...

Ninth Circuit Allows Employee To Exit Arbitration After Harassment Claim Emerges

A federal court has allowed an employee to move a dispute from arbitration to court after discovery uncovered evidence supporting a sex-based harassment claim. In this case, an employee initially asserted claims based on national origin and her status as a domestic violence victim. During arbitration, she obtained internal communications and testimony that allegedly revealed sex-based stereotyping and bias. The...