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Posts Tagged ‘EEOC’
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
For the second year in a row, there were a record number of private sector discrimination claims lodged in the EEOC in 2011, breaking the record set in 2010 by a small margin. The EEOC also announced that relief to workers in the form of settlements and as a result of litigation exceeded $455 million. This number exceeds the relief from 2010 by over $50 million and continues an upward trend in settlement and litigation awards to workers alleging discrimination. The EEOC itself filed 300 lawsuits and obtained over $90 million in awards to workers, reflecting another increase in the money recovered by the EEOC’s own litigation efforts.
For the second straight year, retaliation claims represented the largest single category of allegations of discrimination. This represents only the second time, along with 2010, that retaliation claims have constituted the largest category. Allegations of race and sex discrimination decreased, while allegations of disability and age discrimination increased. Age discrimination claims also represented the category of allegations resulting in the largest amount of money awarded, increasing my almost $30 million dollars. The largest subset of disability claims were made up of back impairments.
This was also the first full year that the EEOC has enforced the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. This Act seeks to prevent discrimination based upon the genetic information of employees, which includes genetic diseases in their family histories. The EEOC received 245 charges under this Act, but none have yet proceeded to litigation.
The clear trend over the past few years reflects an increase in allegations of workplace bias and discrimination to record levels. These increases provide new challenges for employers as they attempt to navigate through this difficult economy. In any event, it provides a very real warning that employers must take workplace discrimination laws seriously, and enact workplace policies to prevent such conduct.
Tags: discrimination, EEOC, employment law, employment policy, legal trends
Posted in Industry News | No Comments »
Friday, May 27th, 2011
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently filed suit against Starbucks alleging that the chain violated the American Disabilities Act (“ADA”) by firing an employee with dwarfism. The employee had worked at the coffee chain for three days as a barista when she requested a stool or a small stepladder to help her reach the coffee slinging equipment. Instead of providing the equipment, Starbucks fired the employee.
The ADA requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation to employees with disabilities so long as it will not result in an undue hardship for the employer. In its suit against Starbucks, the EEOC claims that the chain not only failed to provide such an accommodation, but also violated the act by firing the employee because of her disability. Starbucks argues that its actions were justified because providing a stool to the employee would have been dangerous and hazardous to other employees, making the request unreasonable and outside of the scope of the ADA.
Whether or not Starbucks has a valid legal defense, the EEOC’s suit should serve as a reminder to employers that they have an obligation to engage in an interactive process to determine whether to provide a reasonable accommodation to disabled employees. As the trial attorney for the EEOC stated: “Employers cannot blithely ignore a request for a reasonable accommodation by a qualified individual with a disability…Starbucks flatly refused to discuss [the employee’s] reasonable request. Instead, they assumed the worst and fired her. The ADA was enacted to prevent that kind of misguided, fear-driven reaction.”
Tags: American Disabilities Act, Dwarfism, EEOC, Reasonable Accommodation., Undue Hardship.
Posted in Industry News | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
On March 24, 2011, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published implementing regulations for the 2008 Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act. The regulations provide guidance as to the interpretation of the Amendments Act, and in particular reflect significant changes in the EEOC’s interpretation of the definition of “disability.”
The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act was enacted in 2008 to reinstate a broad scope of protection for individuals with disabilities by expressly overturning Supreme Court decisions of Sutton v. United Air Lines, and Toyota v. Williams, which narrowly interpreted the term “disability” under the original act. The Amendments Act retained the basic definition of a person with a “disability” as someone with an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity, has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such impairment. However, it changed the interpretation of the term to make it easier for an individual seeking protection under the ADA to establish that they have a disability within the meaning of the act.
The regulations published by the EEOC further clarify the new interpretation of the term “disability.” Most significantly, the new regulations make it easier for an individual to claim protection under the “regarded as” prong of the definition. Under the old interpretation, whether an individual was “regarded as” having a disability turned on what the employer believed about their condition. Under the new regulations this determination will turn on how the employer treated the employee. However, the new regulations also make clear that an individual is not eligible for a reasonable accommodation if they only meet the “regarded as” prong of the definition.
Additionally, the new regulations expand coverage to persons whose disability occurs periodically, or is currently in remission, so long as it would impair a major life activity when active. This includes impairments such as epilepsy, autism, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, HIV infection, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.
For employers that have already adapted to the changes made to the ADA by the Amendments Act, the regulations should only be helpful guidance. The regulations mainly clarify the existing law, and do not significantly alter it. Nevertheless, to ensure compliance with the Amendments Act and its regulations, employers should err on the side of caution and assume that all employees with physical or mental impairments are covered under the ADA.
Tags: Americans with Disabilities Act, Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments of 2008, Definition of Disability, EEOC, Major Life Activity, Reasonable Accommodation.
Posted in Industry News | No Comments »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Chris Vrountas has posted the following:
President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address to a Joint Session of Congress and to the American people last night. He covered quite a bit of ground about the economy, health care and national security, among other things, but he also specifically discussed his administration’s policy regarding civil rights and wage law enforcement. The president’s strident tone should provide notice to business and other employers that the federal government will be looking to enforce the anti-discrimination and wage laws vigorously and, in some cases, looking to make examples of certain violators. Here is a brief portion of the speech last night:
. . .
Abroad, America’s greatest source of strength has always been our ideals. The same is true at home. We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal, that no matter who you are or what you look like, if you abide by the law you should be protected by it; that if you adhere to our common values you should be treated no different than anyone else.
We must continually renew this promise. My Administration has a Civil Rights Division that is once again prosecuting civil rights violations and employment discrimination. We finally strengthened our laws to protect against crimes driven by hate. This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. We are going to crack down on violations of equal pay laws - so that women get equal pay for an equal day’s work. And we should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system – to secure our borders, enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nations.
In the end, it is our ideals, our values, that built America – values that allowed us to forge a nation made up of immigrants from every corner of the globe; values that drive our citizens still. Every day, Americans meet their responsibilities to their families and their employers. Time and again, they lend a hand to their neighbors and give back to their country. They take pride in their labor, and are generous in spirit. These aren’t Republican values or Democratic values they’re living by; business values or labor values. They are American values.
. . .
So, it is “let the word go forth” time for this administration and its policy on civil rights and wage and hour enforcement. Employers should mindfully review their policies, develop their training, ensure compliance, make HR available and noticeable, take internal complaints seriously and resolve them fairly because employers who do not manage their workplaces actively may have the EEOC or the DOL doing it for them.
Tags: civil rights, Congress, Constitution, constitutional law, Department of Labor, discrimination, DOL, economics, EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, equal pay, equal pay laws, health care, health care bill, healthcare, Obama, Obama Administration, SOTU, State of the Union
Posted in Diversity, Employment Law/Legislation, Health & Safety, Industry News | No Comments »
Saturday, January 9th, 2010
Chris Vrountas, Chair of the firm’s Employment Counseling and Litigation Group, contributes the following:
The EEOC announced this week that Fiscal 2009 ended with record numbers of disability, religion and national origin discrimination claims, while the number of age-related discrimination claims reached the second highest for that category in history. Meanwhile, the most frequently filed claims remained those alleging discrimination on the basis of race (36%), retaliation (36%) and sex (30%). The EEOC provides these and other statistics on its website.
Tags: Disability, discrimination, EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Fiscal Year 2009, FY 2009, race, racism, retaliation, sex
Posted in Diversity, Industry News | No Comments »
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