Clearly a quiet week over at Acas Towers, judging by all the detailed advice and reasoned analysis which doesn’t feature in its new two-page guidance note on long Covid (also referred to in the guidance as “long-tail Covid”, which is the same but with more feathers). The main thrust of the guidance is notionally to … Continue Reading
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has issued new guidance on the use of confidentiality agreements (often referred to interchangeably as “non-disclosure agreements” “NDAs”, “gagging clauses” or “confidentiality clauses”) in discrimination cases. The stated aim of the guidance is to “clarify the law on confidentiality agreements in employment and to set out good practice … Continue Reading
On October 8, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in three employment discrimination cases involving what protection, if any, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of, among other things, sex – affords against sexual orientation and gender identity-based discrimination. As we previously discussed … Continue Reading
Male manager repeatedly massages shoulders of seated female subordinate in open office causing her distress and embarrassment, claims he is doing so to “encourage her” and then gives evidence denying it which the Tribunal does not swallow for a second. Sexual harassment? Quick, yes or no?… Continue Reading
Normally an employer will be liable for one employee’s harassment of another unless it has taken “all reasonable steps” in advance to stop conduct of that sort happening, the “statutory defence”. Employment Tribunals can be reluctant to allow an employer to escape liability in that way because that may leave the employee without meaningful recourse … Continue Reading
Another day, another sex scandal. A Martian reviewing the Evening Standard could reasonably conclude that this is an issue limited to film, media and politics but there would undoubtedly be those in many less glamorous workplaces who also have stories to tell and hopefully feel empowered to do so by the flood of others coming … Continue Reading
It is sadly impossible to write anything critical about a report on sexual harassment in the workplace without coming over like some frightful old golf club misogynist. To be clear, therefore, none of what follows seeks to belittle the distress of those genuinely harassed at work, but balance nonetheless dictates a counter-point to the TUC’s … Continue Reading
The hospitality industry is no stranger to the rules prohibiting discrimination in accommodations. The average restaurant or hotel operator is fully aware that he cannot deny goods, facilities or services to a customer on the basis of gender. What appears to be less well known is that, at least in Hong Kong, the same business … Continue Reading
A week ago, President Barack Obama announced further efforts by the White House and EEOC to combat gender pay equality issues. The momentum from last week’s announcement carried its way up the coast from the District of Columbia to the state legislature of New Jersey. Yesterday, New Jersey’s Senate Labor Committee approved Senate Bill 992 … Continue Reading
On February 3, 2015, the EEOC’s Director of the Office of Field Programs issued a memorandum to the agency’s district directors regarding the handling of LGBT-related discrimination claims. Although Title VII does not explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of an employee’s identification as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, the memorandum states that the EEOC … Continue Reading
Back in January 2013, my colleague David Whincup published a blog about an Iowa dentist who dismissed his assistant because of the threat which his wife considered her to pose to their marriage. For those happy few who have spent the last 17 months wondering what would happen in similar circumstances in the UK, wonder … Continue Reading
So here is Friday’s teaser – let us suppose that an Employment Tribunal has just decided that you have been sexually harassed by your former boss, that he was fixated by your breasts, habitually stared at them and frequently addressed them while in conversation with you. He has also touched you, uninvited and unreciprocated, on … Continue Reading
In an open letter to the Guardian, gender equality campaigners Object and UK Feminista demand that UK retailers withdraw the sale of “Lads’ Mags” life FHM and newspapers featuring “pornographic front covers” immediately. Object have been campaigning to “Lose the Lads’ Mags” for ten years but their latest assault tackles the issue from a predominantly … Continue Reading
The legal protections afforded transgender individuals in the workplace are relatively unclear, not to mention varied, across the country. Currently, sixteen states (and Washington D.C.), as well as numerous cities and counties, ban discrimination based on gender expression and gender identity. However, a federal bill, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), has been proposed and struck … Continue Reading
Late last year, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld summary judgment for the plaintiff, Vandiver Elizabeth Glenn, against her employer in a sex discrimination case [pdf]. Ms. Glenn alleged that she was fired from her job because she intended to transition from male to female. The court noted that discrimination against a transgender employee … Continue Reading
For the past couple years, it seemed we couldn’t avoid hearing or reading coverage on the unprecedented employment discrimination class action filed against Wal-Mart. It has now been more than ten years since the case was filed. Based on recent news, one cannot help but wonder whether the suit will be resolved before yet another ten years of litigation have passed. The general background facts include: … Continue Reading
For every indication that workplace equality between the sexes is getting closer, there seems to be another that the glass ceiling is still very much in place in all walks of working life. In the same week that France’s Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde, became the first woman to be appointed Head of the International Monetary … Continue Reading
