The United States Senate has passed a bill designed to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender workers across the country from discrimination. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would prohibit employers with at least 15 workers from engaging in discrimination against an employee based upon his or her sexual orientation or gender…
A bill that was recently introduced in the New York Legislature would provide unpaid interns with many of the same statutory protections that employees across the state currently enjoy. S05951 would make it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against interns who are members of a protected class. If the…
In September, Exxon Mobil Corporation announced that the company would begin offering benefits to the legally married same-sex spouses of employees in the United States. According to a spokesperson for the company, Alan Jeffers, the change was made in response to official guidance that was issued by the nation’s Department…
A federal jury has ruled in favor of a 25-year-old mentally disabled man who was discriminated against by his employer in Texas. According to a lawsuit filed against the Kroger chain of grocery stores, the mentally challenged former employee worked at one of the company’s stores without incident for four…
A federal judge in New York has ruled that dancers at Rick’s Cabaret are hourly workers who must be paid minimum wage. According to a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of nearly 2,000 dancers in 2009, the company improperly classified strippers as independent contractors. By categorizing dancers in this way,…
A New Jersey law that is scheduled to take effect on October 1 will require public and private employers with 25 or more employees to grant job-protected leave to the victims and certain family members of sexually violent and domestic violence offenses. The New Jersey Security and Financial Empowerment Act…
Increasingly, Americans are utilizing social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and more both on and off the job. In recent years, a growing number of employers have reportedly asked workers and job applicants for access to their personal social media accounts as a condition of employment. In response…
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has signed into law a bill designed to assist women in the fight for equal pay. The new law prohibits employers from punishing workers who disclose their rate of pay or other compensation information to co-workers who seek to investigate whether a company or employer…
A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled that clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch engaged in religious discrimination against a former employee. According to a lawsuit filed by the nation’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2011, the company fired a female Muslim worker for refusing to remove her hijab…
An Indiana-based power grid company recently agreed to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit for more than $90,000. The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reportedly filed the lawsuit against Midcontinent Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) in response to a complaint filed by a former employee who was allegedly terminated…