Articles and Blogs

Whether the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) is engaging in proper conciliation efforts, prior to bringing a lawsuit, is an issue that many employers have grappled with when forced to the brink during pre-lawsuit negotiations. After the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (including Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin) held, for the first time, that the... READ MORE

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on July 14, 2014 issued Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues, along with Questions and Answers about the guidance and a Fact Sheet for Small Businesses. This is the first comprehensive update of the EEOC’s guidance on the subject of discrimination against pregnant workers since 1983. This... READ MORE

Employers covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act are required to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of employees as long as it doesn’t create an undue hardship on the employer’s operations.  Determining whether to accommodate (and how to accommodate) an employee or applicant’s request for a religious exception can be challenging, particularly... READ MORE

If you conduct background checks on applicants or employees, then you are probably aware that there are several laws that regulate the use of background checks for employment purposes.  Specifically, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) enforces the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), a federal law that imposes obligations on employers who use third parties... READ MORE

As the EEOC continues to focus on the use of unpaid leave beyond policy limits as a potential reasonable accommodation and employees continue to request leave extensions, I am frequently asked: “How do I know when enough is enough?”  Unfortunately, the determination of an undue hardship is a factual issue, and the only way... READ MORE

The EEOC’s first systemic lawsuit brought under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”) has resulted in a defendant nursing and rehabilitation center agreeing to settle for $370,000 and other penalties as explained below. Employers will recall that GINA prohibits employers from discriminating and retaliating against employees or job applicants based on genetic information and... READ MORE

EEOC and NLRB Are Idle With the failure of Congress last night to fund the federal government, several of the agencies responsible for the investigation and enforcement of federal labor and employment laws have gone idle. Except for life threatening emergencies, property preservation and actions to accept filings to avoid statutes of limitations, most other... READ MORE

State Attorneys General Criticize EEOC Guidance on Criminal Background Checks Ever since the EEOC issued its “updated” Enforcement Guidance on the use of criminal background checks in April 2012, employers have struggled to understand exactly what could be asked and used in screening candidates for employment.  (See our article “Arrest and Conviction Records –... READ MORE

When EEOC’s Statistics Are Unreliable – Case Fails For many employers, conducting a criminal history or credit record check on a potential employee is a rational and legitimate component of a reasonable hiring process.  This is how a federal district court judge started his opinion that went on to rake the EEOC over the coals for... READ MORE

When this statement was made by an employee during an EEOC mediation the employer was shocked to say the least.  Shocked and shaken by the employee’s outburst, the employer fired the angry employee within the hour.  True to his word, the employee then filed a federal law suit for retaliation for participating in the EEOC’s proceeding. ... READ MORE