In early August, an arbitrator awarded a former Long Branch School District worker $4.5 million. In a 2011 civil complaint filed against the school district and prior Superintendent Joseph Ferraina, the former secretary alleged that she was sexually assaulted by and forced to perform sex acts for Ferraina beginning in…
In August, an undisclosed settlement was reached in a highly publicized sexual harassment and race discrimination case. According to a document filed in a Savannah, Georgia federal court, both sides agreed to settle a lawsuit that was filed against celebrity television cook Paula Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers. The…
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…
The New Jersey Division of Civil Rights has reportedly reached a settlement agreement with a party company that stood accused of ignoring the alleged sexual harassment of a Paramus teenager. According to the Division, the teen endured unwelcome sexual advances and inappropriate comments from a male supervisor for about eight…
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…
Major League Baseball (MLB) recently issued new harassment and discrimination policies to every major and minor league baseball player employed by a member of the league. According to a new agreement, the organization will provide training sessions for employees and a central complaint system that was created to prevent and…
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…
A Long Island church and diocese recently agreed to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint that was filed against it by the nation’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to the EEOC, a male Interim Rector at the Grace Episcopal Church of Whitestone, Inc. touched, grabbed, and kissed a…
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…
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…