The Labor & Employment Blog is a forum for practitioners and Bloomberg BNA editors to share ideas, raise issues, and network with colleagues.
May 17, 2013
by Patrick Dorrian
A common issue in employment discrimination cases is what value should be placed on the plaintiff's claim. Bloomberg BNA's enhanced Employment Discrimination Verdicts & Settlements Navigator can help.
May 7, 2013
by Lydell C. Bridgeford
David S. Fortney, a management lawyer with Fortney & Scott in Washington, D.C., talks about the pros and cons of commencing litigation against the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs because of a compliance review.
May 3, 2013
As the Supreme Court considers yet another retaliation case, companies should again be reminded of the continued prevalence—and relative success—of such claims by employees, as well as their obligation as employers to protect workers against the retaliatory acts of managers.
April 22, 2013
Marita Etcubañez, director of programs at the Asian American Justice Center, discusses how implicit bias and stereotypes of Asian Americans can hinder their career advancement in the workplace.
April 19, 2013
Is it the intent of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to make it more difficult for managers and supervisors, than for rank-and-file employees, to prove protected activity?
April 8, 2013
Legal issues surrounding whether and when class claims may be arbitrated has only added to the longstanding fight between employers and employees over the mandatory arbitration of employment discrimination claims. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is the latest court to weigh in on the hot topic of class arbitration.
ReNika C. Moore, a director at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., offers an overview of pending litigation and hiring policies that have gained the attention of the legal advocacy group.
March 29, 2013
A recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey raises the question of whether the Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to distinguish between disabled workers.
March 26, 2013
Jones Day attorney Alison B.Marshall weighs in on the renewed focus by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to combat pay discrimination based on race, gender, and ethnicity.
March 21, 2013
Everyone has heard the saying “Make sure you get it in writing.” While not the strict legal requirement, medical device manufacturer Teleflex may be wishing one of its executives had lived by those words in deciding that a subordinate employee had resigned.
March 20, 2013
Beth A. Ronnenburg, president of Berkshire Associates Inc., discusses how updated data on the U.S. workforce issued by the Census Bureau will affect federal contractors establishing placement goals for women and minorities and what contractors need to understand about the goals.
February 22, 2013
Over the past two weeks, momentum has begun to build toward a long-sought expansion of federal employment rights law: protections from workplace discrimination for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers.
February 18, 2013
by Amber McKinney
Let's take a look at this year's five hottest labor and employment law issues.
February 15, 2013
What are the top ten issues labor and employment practitioners should watch for in 2013? Let's take a look at the first five.
February 8, 2013
Momentum may be building toward further federal legislation on the issue of equal pay, if activity at the state level is any indication.
January 30, 2013
The pitched battle between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the defense bar over whether the commission is permitted to sue on behalf of alleged victims of discrimination who are not identified by the agency during its investigation or conciliation of the underlying administrative charge continues.
January 23, 2013
Bloomberg BNA caught up with Shirley A. Davis Sheppard, Ph.D., vice president of diversity and inclusion at the Society for Human Resource Management, to discuss the organization's efforts to develop standards for measuring the performance of corporate D&I programs.
January 7, 2013
Bloomberg BNA spoke with Eric B. Meyer, a partner at Dilworth Paxson's Philadelphia office, to find out if the four-year strategic enforcement plan approved by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission signals a major shift in the commission's enforcement agenda.
January 4, 2013
It's been a good past few months for George Lucas, whose recent successes include a win by his company Lucasfilm in its bid to overturn a $1.27 million pregnancy discrimination judgment against the company. The case poses many interesting questions, including the relevance of an employer's expressed concern for a pregnant worker and her unborn child to the issue of discrimination.
December 18, 2012
R. Scott Oswald, a managing principal at The Employment Law Group, weighs in on legal developments affecting plaintiffs' attorneys who represent employees in Age Discrimination in Employment Act litigation.
Is the standard for determining whether an employee has engaged in protected activity under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act the same for in-house lawyers as it is for other employees?
December 3, 2012
A sometimes overlooked nuance of current job accommodation requirements was highlighted by a recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decision: an employee or job applicant seeking accommodation based on a disability or a religious conviction is only entitled to a reasonable accommodation, not necessarily the accommodation of his or her choosing.
November 26, 2012
Labor mediator Amy L. Lieberman shares her experience with counseling employers in negotiations with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over consent decrees, especially provisions on anti-harassment and non-discrimination training for employees and managers.
November 20, 2012
Matthew J. Camardella, a partner at Jackson Lewis, LLP, talks about the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs under an Obama Administration's second term, pre-employment tests, potential effects of the Census Bureau's data tool on affirmative action planning.
November 19, 2012
Back in May, we outlined the battle between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and employers over a number of EEO enforcement issues, including the scope of EEOC’s investigatory authority in class and other prospective cases. An interesting question for employment law practitioners is how last week’s election results impact that fight.
November 2, 2012
Since the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act took effect Nov. 21, 2009, there hasn’t been as much litigation activity under the employment provisions of the statute as some may have anticipated. That could be about to change, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission leading the way.
October 31, 2012
Stewart S. Manela, chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Labor and Employment Law tells Bloomberg BNA how his team planned the 6th annual membership conference that runs from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 in Atlanta so that it appeals to the section's diverse constituency.
October 23, 2012
Bloomberg BNA recently spoke with Stephanie R. Thomas, Ph.D., the founder and CEO of Thomas Econometrics, a human resources firm specializing in statistical and economic consulting, about the Office of Federal Compliance Programs' proposed rules to strengthen affirmative action programs for veterans and people with disabilities. In this Q&A, Thomas outlines what she thinks federal contractors should do to prepare for the new regulations, and discusses the agency's attempt to overhaul compensation audits aimed at federal contractors.
October 19, 2012
Two weeks ago I discussed how the Supreme Court's decision in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. overturning certification of a class totaling more than one million workers did not spell the end of the case or employment class actions in general. A few days later, at a National Employment Lawyers Association conference I attended, the group of mostly plaintiffs' lawyers made clear that they do not view the Dukes decision to be the great loss that many supposed.
October 9, 2012
California has among the nation's toughest labor laws prohibiting discrimination, but Claudia Center, of the Legal Aid Society's Employment Law Center (LAS-ELC) in San Francisco, says her organization and its clients still need the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to pursue its current agenda.
October 4, 2012
The last two weeks saw a rush of EEO activity, with a new ruling in the Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. case leading a group of class action decisions and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission closing its fiscal year with a flurry of new lawsuits.
September 25, 2012
Donald R. Livingston, a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld and former general counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, shares what he thinks are noteworthy developments to emerge in 2012 from EEOC policy guidance and litigation.
September 21, 2012
The always active Equal Employment Opportunity Commission dominated EEO developments over the past two weeks, with the turn of events it managed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit leading the way.
September 10, 2012
Labor attorney Jonathan A. Segal lauds the mediation program at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but notes that employers should walk into the initial mediation conference with realistic expectations about settling the discrimination charge.
September 7, 2012
The weight given to enforcement or policy guidance issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during litigation varies from court to court and case by case. For example, in Kroll v. White Lake Ambulance Authority the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently reaffirmed its view that EEOC’s enforcement guidance relating to statutory interpretation of the ADA is “very persuasive authority.”
August 27, 2012
In this Bloomberg BNA Q&A, HR consultant Carla Irwin advises federal contractors that smart compliance with the internet applicant rule enforced by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs starts with identifying all the ways in which the company recruits and screens job applicants.
August 17, 2012
Mark Toth, chief legal officer at ManpowerGroup North America, discusses the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's release of updated enforcement guidance on employers' use of individuals' arrest and conviction records to make hiring decisions. He also weighs in on conducting social media background checks on job applicants.
August 10, 2012
Several recent case developments and regulatory actions have brought into sharp focus the difference between anti-bias protections for public employees and those for private-sector workers.
July 27, 2012
An issue that seems to be at the forefront of more and more Americans with Disabilities Act cases is whether the the plaintiff was able to perform the essential functions of the job in question, with or without reasonable accommodation.
July 16, 2012
Valerie J. Vickers, board chair of the National Industry Liaison Group, asserts that federal contractors deserve a prominent seat at the table as the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs aims to overhaul regulations to ensure contractors are not discriminating against applicants and workers based on race, sex, disability and veteran status.
July 13, 2012
A question I’ve frequently considered in deciding which cases to report on is what value, if any, do state court decisions hold for employment discrimination lawyers in other jurisdictions?
July 3, 2012
Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) has been on the market for over 20 years, but a slow economic recovery and increased enforcement activity by federal civil rights agencies have produced new trends affecting claims covered by EPLI, says Thomas P. Hams, EPLI practice leader for Aon Risk Solutions.
July 2, 2012
What is the impact of D.R. Horton, or Dukes and Concepcion? Only time will tell, but the recent developments in the longstanding battle between employee advocates and employers over the fairness of arbitration clauses and class action waivers, which was once thought to have been settled largely in favor of employers, rages on.
June 18, 2012
Bloomberg BNA recently spoke with Shirley J. Wilcher, who oversaw the Office of Federal Compliance Programs during the Clinton Administration, about the underlying factors that drive regulatory reforms to ensure federal contractors meet their affirmative action obligations.
June 15, 2012
Can a single discriminatory remark by an employee about a co-worker by itself create a hostile work environment under federal or state law? Should it? Can discriminatory actions occurring outside of the workplace be considered part of a hostile work environment? Should they be?
June 4, 2012
Terisa E. Chaw, executive director of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), discusses why her organization is closely monitoring the Eighth Circuit's EEOC v. CRST Van Expedited Inc. case and class action strategies post-Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Dukes.
June 1, 2012
Recently, the issue of "but-for" evidence in discrimination cases has returned to forefront. The Supreme Court’s 2009 decision Gross v. FBL Financial Services Inc., seems to have brought a renewed focus on the issue of causation in cases litigated under the various federal employment discrimination statutes. Recent decisions by the D.C. and Sixth circuits lead this EEO roundup.
May 30, 2012
Gregory T. Chambers, president of the American Association for Affirmative Action (AAAA), explains why corporate America and the federal government need to stay committed to affirmative action programs. AAAA, founded in 1974, represents professionals who manage affirmative action, equal opportunity, diversity inclusion and human resource programs in the private and public sectors.
May 18, 2012
Is the seeming rise in cases involving challenges to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s enforcement authority more of a sign of an overaggressive agency ( at least Seyfarth Shaw...
May 8, 2012
John Piatt , a director of equal employment opportunity at the Biddle Consulting Group, isn't convinced that the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is finished with efforts to...
April 9, 2012
Celia M. Joseph, an attorney in the Philadelphia office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, talks about legal battles that may surface because of proposed reforms to strengthen federal contractors' nondiscrimination and affirmative action obligations for veterans and people with disabilities. She also discusses the legal avenues available for challenging newly minted regulations.
March 27, 2012
Cara Yates Crotty, a partner at the law firm Constangy Brooks and Smith, LLP., explains why some companies that are awarded federal contractors may fail to realize they have to comply with nondiscrimination and affirmative action regulations enforced by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.
March 12, 2012
Chris Lindholm, a consultant on affirmative action policies for federal contractors, discusses the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' budget justification for fiscal year 2013 that was recently submitted to Congress. The document outlines the agency's funding proposals and enforcement priorities.
February 27, 2012
This week the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) will hold its annual membership meeting in Washington, D.C., so Bloomberg BNA caught up with Rae T. Vann, general counsel of the group, to discuss what members can expect at the three-day event. The 35-year-old employers' association represents some 300 of the largest employers in equal employment opportunity and affirmative action compliance matters.
February 14, 2012
Eric M. Dunleavy, Ph.D., an industrial-organizational psychologist and principal consultant at DCI Consulting Group, says he isn't opposed to regulatory change in and of itself, but the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs needs to take a practical approach to its proposals on conducting compensation audits.
February 2, 2012
by Victoria Roberts
This week, first lady Michelle Obama and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis released proposed rules to implement and interpret two sets of 2009 amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act that would expand leave entitlement to military caregivers and airline flight crew employees.
January 30, 2012
Bloomberg BNA decided to pick the brain of Judy Young, an expert on the Americans with Disabilities Act, about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s enforcement of the ADA Amendments Act. In fiscal year 2011, EEOC filed 60 suits under ADAAA, up from nine the previous year.
January 17, 2012
Constance S. Barker, a commissioner at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, tells Bloomberg BNA why the EEOC is re-valuating its small business liaison efforts. An EEOC commissioner since July 2008, Barker heads a new internal task force aimed at helping small businesses comply with federal anti-discrimination laws.
January 3, 2012
More co-workers are connecting online through social-networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but that doesn’t mean the company’s sexual harassment policy should be ignored, explains Donna M. Ballman, a labor attorney, who recently spoke with BNA about sexual harassment and social media.
December 19, 2011
Hours before attending a forum commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Kathleen Martinez, assistant labor secretary, sat down with BNA to discuss ODEP’s influence on public policy aimed at increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
December 5, 2011
BNA recently reached out to two management-side attorneys to discuss some key moving elements in the longstanding requirement that federal contractors submit workforce data to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, as well as the implications of a recent court decision in a contractor's challenge to OFCCP's reporting requirements.
November 23, 2011
Federal Employee News Despite cries of foul after the U.S. Postal Service...
Public Sector Roundup: Will Sequestration Continue Into Fiscal Year 2014?
Q&A: When Does an OFCCP Audit Become Litigation Worthy?
Congressional Roundup: Republican Comp Time Bill Gets a Vote
Labor Stats and Facts: Decertifications Are Down, but Unions Shouldn't Celebrate
EEO Roundup: Valuing Employment Discrimination Claims