Articles and Blogs

On Thursday, February 10, 2022, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 passed the Senate after previously passing in the House. The bill, which President Joe Biden will reportedly sign, would amend the Federal Arbitration Act and effectively transform how parties resolve allegations of sexual harassment and assault.... READ MORE

As 2022 begins, the federal government, as well as some state and local governments, continue to prioritize the importance of anti-discrimination laws. Indeed, in addition to numerous anti‑discrimination laws that went into effect in 2021, many new laws were passed and signed in 2021 to go into effect in 2022. Yet, as these new... READ MORE

The #MeToo Movement Focuses Attention on Mandatory Arbitration Agreements The #MeToo movement brought attention to the use of private arbitration for claims of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the workplace because employers benefit from the sometimes reduced costs of arbitration by not having to air those disputes in public and before juries of... READ MORE

In the year or so since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements shined a national media spotlight on sexual harassment in the workplace, the issue has reached several courts and state legislatures as well. As a result, employers may now be required to take additional action in developing policies and procedures to address sexual harassment,... READ MORE

A recent federal appeals court decision reminds us that employees can bring sexual harassment claims based on the conduct of non-employees, including patients. A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reminds us of that risk. The Facts and Allegations In Gardner v. CLC of Pascagoula, LLC, a nursing... READ MORE

As pointed out in prior blog posts—see, for example, this post from 2017 and this 2018 blog post—with the recent #MeToo movement and the sexual harassment allegations that continue to garner media coverage on a national platform, employers across the country should be taking proactive steps to curb sexual harassment and incivility in the... READ MORE

Fresh off the 75th Annual Golden Globes Awards, which took place on January 7, mainstream and social media alike are abuzz with Oprah Winfrey’s historic acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Winfrey, the first black woman to receive the prestigious award, brought the crowd to its feet on several occasions during her emotional acceptance... READ MORE

In the wake of the salacious Harvey Weinstein allegations, the topic of sexual harassment is making the headlines…again. The Weinstein story followed right on the heels of the various (and seemingly ongoing) harassment-related woes of Fox News, which, in turn, followed on the heels of the developments that came to light on the presidential... READ MORE

As we reported in a previous article, the Third Circuit recently decided in Doe v. Mercy[1] that: 1) the medical residency program of the facility being sued in that case was an “educational program or activity” under Title IX; and 2) the medical resident had standing to sue under Title IX even though the... READ MORE