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In an update to a previous post, the highly anticipated United States Supreme Court decision in UPS v. Young was announced last week. In a 6-3 decision, the Court vacated rulings of the district court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, both having issued summary judgment in favor of UPS. The Court remanded the decision to determine whether the policies of UPS were legitimate and nondiscriminatory. The Court stated the Fourth Circuit had not yet considered the combined effects of UPS' other accommodation policies or the strength of UPS' justifications for the ...
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When I present harassment training, I tell my audience that harassment is usually unlawful only when based on a protected-class status, such as race, gender, age, disability, etc. During the training, I often tell the story of the "equal opportunity harasser" the individual in the workplace who is a jerk to everyone and does not discriminate in picking the targets of his/her jerkiness (that's my technical term). This is the person who is a jerk to everyone. Because this person's behavior is status-blind, it doesn't violate discrimination or harassment laws.

Some Minnesota ...

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We recently alerted you to proposed legislation that, if passed, would expand last years Minnesota Womens Economic Security Act (WESA) by requiring paid sick and safe time off benefits for almost all Minnesota employees and extending pregnancy accommodation and parental leave obligations to all Minnesota employers.  You should be aware that Minnesota lawmakers are at it again. Late last month, additional legislation (HF 1093 and SF 1085) was proposed that is aimed at benefiting working parents. Together with the earlier proposed sick and safe leave bill, the legislation is being ...
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Two big news items this week have affected people near and dear to me. First, I am an alumnus of the University of Oklahoma (OU). OU made national news this week due to the deplorable actions of now former members of its chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity, who were filmed chanting a racist song on the way to a party. The video went viral online, prompting a local and national outcry. OUs President, David Boren, moved swiftly to denounce the students actions and shut down the fraternity chapter. The second big news event occurred just down the street from my downtown ...
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As we previously reported, the EEOCs targeting of employer background checks has been controversial and continues to fizzle in the courts. Recently, in EEOC v. Freeman, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower courts grant of summary judgment to an employer. The Fourth Circuit found that the EEOC failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination with respect to the employers background checks, because the EEOCs expert testimony and corresponding statistical analysis was unreliable. This is the same reason that the EEOCs background check ...

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