According to data filed with the nation’s Department of Labor (DOL), Goodwill Industries paid disabled workers in at least 10 states an hourly wage of less than 22 cents in 2011. In fact, two Texas locations reportedly paid more than 50 employees less than a dime per hour. Additionally, an…
Articles Posted in Employment Discrimination
EEOC Settlement Reminds Employers in New Jersey and Across U.S. to Refrain from Unlawful Religious Discrimination
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has agreed to settle a religious discrimination complaint filed against the owners of a hotel chain for $45,000. According to the EEOC, the Comfort Inn Oceanfront South in Nags Head, North Carolina refused to honor an employee’s request not to work on…
FDNY Settles Unlawful Gender Discrimination Lawsuit for $1.25 Million
The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) has reportedly settled a sex discrimination lawsuit that was filed against the organization by five former and current female emergency medical service (EMS) workers in 2006. According to the women, systemic gender discrimination prevented them from being promoted to higher levels within the…
Breast Cancer Patient Settles Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against New York Employer
A 59-year-old breast cancer patient has settled her age, gender, and disability-related discrimination lawsuit filed against law firm Proskauer Rose in New York State Court in 2011. The woman, who acted as the firm’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) until she was terminated in March 2011, claims the law firm began…
American Medical Association’s Decision to Label Obesity a Disease May Affect Disability Claims in in New York and Nationwide
In mid-June, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to recognize obesity as a disease at the organization’s annual meeting in Chicago. The measure was approved by AMA delegates despite that the group’s Council on Science and Public Health reportedly recommended against it. Although the AMA’s decision has no binding legal…
Supreme Court Refuses to Review Decision That States Employers in New York and Nationwide Must Provide Disabled Workers With Reasonable Accommodations
The United States Supreme Court has reportedly declined to review a challenge to a federal law that states an employer must accommodate a worker who becomes disabled. In United Airlines v. EEOC, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued United Airlines over a company policy that allowed a disabled worker…
Former Law Firm Shareholder Settles Proposed Class-Action Gender Discrimination Case Filed in New York
Last week, a proposed class-action lawsuit for alleged gender discrimination that was filed last year in a New York federal court by a female former Greenberg Traurig shareholder was reportedly settled. The shareholder purportedly worked in the law firm’s Philadelphia office for about three years between 2007 and 2010. According…
New Jersey Company Settles With New York Attorney General’s Office Over Alleged Discrimination Against Applicants With a Criminal History
One of the world’s largest medical and diagnostic testing companies in the world, Quest Diagnostics, has reportedly settled with regulators from the State of New York over allegations that the company engaged in employment discrimination. According to the New York State Attorney General’s Office, Quest violated state law by automatically…
Jury Award Demonstrates Why Disabled Workers in New Jersey and Nationwide Must be Defended Against Unlawful Discrimination
On May 1st, a federal jury in Iowa awarded $240 million to 32 mentally-disabled workers who were allegedly abused and controlled by their now-defunct employer. According to the nation’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the disabled workers were paid 41 cents per hour, housed in unsanitary conditions, denied basic medical…
NYPD Takes a Stand on Hair Color Discrimination, but What Does the Law Say?
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) issued an anti-bias message alert that warned sergeants and lieutenants about harassment or discrimination against red-haired officers. The story, reported in the New York Post, has met with mostly bemused responses from people who do not feel that redheads are a particularly disadvantaged…