Yesterday, a fellow employment law blogger, Jon Hyman of the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog, made an interesting post. Sexual orientation discrimination by an employer is still legal in Ohio, so some creative plaintiff’s lawyers in Ohio have argued that the employers’ actions constituted religious discrimination because the plaintiff employees’ lifestyles did not comport with
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Asking Job Applicants About Criminal Convictions
A benefit of using employment applications in hiring is the ability of the employer to directly ask an applicant if he/she has a criminal history that would show up if a thorough background check was conducted, according to Lester S. Rosen of Employment Screening Resources in his August 2009 article in the Lorman Education Service…
Investigating Preferential Treatment Claims in Caregiver Disability Cases
Knowledge of Familial Disabilities When investigating a claim of preferential treatment (or disparate treatment) by an employee alleging “Caregiver Disability Discrimination,” the EEO investigator should first try to obtain information about familial disabilities of the employee who was allegedly treated preferentially in the case at hand. The EEO investigator should first ask the…
Breastfeeding During Employee’s Rest Break: Hefty Fines if Disallowed
Failure of an employer to allow an employee to breastfeed during her rest break can subject the employer to a sex discrimination lawsuit and hefty damages. Just ask the owner of Acosta Tacos in Los Angeles. In a “precedential decision” by the Fair Employment and Housing Commission (“FEHC”), which regulates and enforces California’s…
“Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs” in Religious Discrimination Cases
What is “religion”? May an employer question the sincerity of an employee’s alleged religious beliefs? The U.S. Supreme Court has defined “religious belief” as a belief that is: “religious” in the employee’s own scheme of things and sincerely held by the employee. Thus, the law’s protection extends beyond “traditional” religions. One of the best examples…
Fitness for Duty Certification: FMLA
The U.S. Department of Labor, in its Family and Medical Leave Act Advisor, recently clarified what an employer may require of an employee seeking to return to work from an illness. If the employer requires, the employee must provide a medical certification of the employee’s fitness to return to work if the FMLA leave…
Amendments to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
In a recent newsletter by HR Strategies, Staffing Concepts International, Inc. outlined some of the changes employers can expect with the new amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) was signed into law by President Bush on September 25, 2008, and became effective on…
Relationship or Association With An Individual With Disability
In addition to protecting qualified applicants and employees with disabilities from employment discrimination, one ADA provision – the “Association” provision (42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(4))– protects applicants and employees from discrimination based on their relationship or association with an individual with a disability, whether or not the applicant or employee has a disability. Protection Against Adverse…
New FMLA Regulations Impose New Duties on Employer
The new FMLA regulations give additional leave rights to military families and revise the FMLA in many new respects. Staffing Concepts International, Inc.’s recent newsletter article, FMLA: Overhaul of Regulations and the Impact on Employers, summarizes some of the recent changes to The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). On November 17, 2008,…
Caregiver Discrimination under Americans with Disabilities Act
A large number of EEO investigations I have done have involved some aspect of disability or a medical leave of absence claims—even if “Disability Discrimination” is not the main claim being made by the employee complainant. EEO investigations are oftentimes complex with many different legal issues, and “disability” may be just one of many allegations. …