Discrimination and Harassment Law and Practice

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Bass, Berry & Sims and HR Professionals Magazine invite you to join us for a complimentary seminar focused on addressing, reducing and preventing sexual harassment claims in the workplace.

  • Harassment Law Refresher: A high-level review of harassment law.
  • Conducting Effective Internal Investigations: A discussion of best practices for conducting internal investigations into harassment claims.
  • The “Company Culture” Issue – How to Reduce Harassment in the Workplace: Strategies for reducing harassment in the workplace and developing a safe culture.

EVENT DETAILS:Continue Reading EVENT: Labor and Employment Law Update: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Tim Garrett discussed the implications of the ruling holding responsible the University of Connecticut Health Center for the sexual harassment of an employee by a fellow co-worker. In the ruling, the court found that the University of Connecticut Health Center did not take proper steps to alert supervisors of the co-workers prior harassment history which, therefore, prevented the supervisors from properly monitoring his behavior and allowed the misbehavior to occur. According to Tim, “While employers likely can’t monitor their staff at all times and eliminate all workplace harassment, they likely need to have a ‘heightened sense of awareness’ when an employee has been disciplined in the past, and companies will have a greater responsibility to monitor and investigate any allegations in those situations.”
Continue Reading UConn Health System Found Liable for Clinician’s Sexual Harassment

Tim Garrett Discusses Cooper Tire Case with HR ProfessionalsI provided an update on the August 2017 decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that a picketing worker from Cooper Tire should not have been fired for yelling racist insults at a busload of African-American replacement workers. The Eighth Circuit’s decision affirmed the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision that the company…

In an article published earlier this year, I asked the question whether the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects racist insults.  In a decision rendered on August 8, 2017, a majority of an Eighth Circuit panel, over a vigorous dissent, answered “Yes” – that the NLRA does protect racist insults by a picketing worker.
Continue Reading 8th Circuit Panel Rules NLRA Protects Picketing Employee’s Racist Remarks

Ohio just passed a new law that could begin a trend favorable to employers. The new law allows Ohio’s Civil Rights Commission, in its discretion, to award attorneys’ fees and costs to employers who are found not to have unlawfully discriminated against an employee. Why is this important?
Continue Reading Employer Recovery of Fees and Costs in Discrimination Cases – Is There a Trend Starting?

For the first time since 2002, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has updated its guidance on national origin discrimination in the workplace in an effort to address important legal developments over the past 14 years. In 2015, the EEOC reported 11 percent of the charges filed alleged national origin discrimination. The EEOC’s recent Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2017-2021 includes protecting immigrant and migrant workers from discrimination as a top substantive priority, and this guidance is another step toward increasing the EEOC’s enforcement efforts in this area. Of course, with the election of President-elect Donald Trump last month, the EEOC’s guidance is subject to change. However, the guidance is a useful tool to analyze employers’ existing policies and practices of preventing national origin discrimination with an eye toward the EEOC’s focus for enforcement action.
Continue Reading New Guidance on National Origin Discrimination

Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Tim Garrett discussed a case pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit relating to a striking employee’s termination for yelling racist comments at replacement workers. Although the employee’s firing was upheld by an arbitrator, an administrative law judge (ALJ) did not defer to that ruling and…

A case currently under consideration in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals deserves watching.  The case will determine whether the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects a picketing employee’s right to hurl racist insults at replacement workers, so long as no threat is involved.  The case is Cooper Tire & Rubber Company v. NLRB, Case No. 16-2721.  The facts show an intriguing – and some would argue sad – sacrifice by the current Labor Board of race relations at the altar of protecting striking workers’ and their “impulsive behavior.”
Continue Reading Does the NLRA Protect Racist Insults by Picketing Workers?

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently revealed its Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2017-2021. Of course, this Plan was developed before the election of Donald Trump as President.  Thus, the information contained in the Plan could soon become moot, or at the very least, stale.  However, seeing what the EEOC recently noted as high priority areas is instructive.  Whether the Plan will be dramatically or only slightly revised remains to be seen.
Continue Reading EEOC Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2017-2021

Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Doug Dahl provided comments for an article detailing the latest compliance deadline for healthcare entities subject to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under the regulations, which were issued in May, it is now illegal for any healthcare entity that receives federal funding to discriminate against patients on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, age and disability. Beginning on October 16, 2016, all entities receiving government funding from Health and Human Services, including Medicaid and Medicare, are required to provide and post nondiscrimination notices. One challenge that Doug points out in the article is “that covered entities have been struggling with figuring out where to post notices and which publications qualify as significant enough to include them.”
Continue Reading Notification Rule for Federal Health Care Law Outlawing Gender and Sex Discrimination Takes Effect

From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network
From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network

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