Tag: EEOC

EEOC FILES FIRST SUITS ALLEGING SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION

The EEOC announced Monday that it has filed its first two sex discrimination lawsuits based on sexual orientation.  The EEOC has sued Scott Medical Health Care Center, a pain-control and weight-loss clinic in Pennsylvania and a Maryland branch of IFCO Systems, a global pallet company.

In the case against Scott Medical, the EEOC alleges that a gay male telemarketer, Dale Baxley, was subjected to harassment because of his sexual orientation.  According to its press release, the EEOC stated that the employee’s manager frequently used anti-gay slurs and “other highly offensive comments about his sexuality and sex life.”  When Baxley complained to the clinical director, no action was taken to stop the harassment, and instead, the director reasoned that Baxley’s manager was “just doing his job.”

Similarly, in the EEOC’s claim against IFCO, the EEOC charged that a lesbian employee, Yolanda Boone, was harassed due to her sexual orientation and appearance.  The EEOC alleges that her manager made comments such as, “I want to turn you back into a woman” and asked if Boone was male or female. The manager is also alleged to have made inappropriate and suggestive remarks.  Boone registered her complaints to management and also called an employee hotline about the harassment.  She was asked to resign a few days later, but when she refused, she was fired.

These cases are significant since this is the first time the EEOC has filed suits alleging sex discrimination based on sexual orientation.  Last year, the EEOC issued a landmark ruling that discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual employees is against federal law, namely, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and sexual orientation discrimination, by its nature, is considered discrimination because of sex.

EEOC SEEKS EQUAL PAY DATA FROM EMPLOYERS

A few weeks ago, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the Obama Administration announced that it sought approval of a revised Employer Information Report (EEO-1) that would require federal contractors and employers with 100 or more employees to disclose pay information of its workers.  Currently, an EEO-1 report is filed annually by employers and includes information concerning workers’ race, ethnicity, gender and job category.

  The EEOC now seeks to expand the scope of what is required to be reported on the EEO-1 form by requiring pay data, such as W-2 earnings and hours worked, to be disclosed.  EEOC Chair, Jenny R. Yang, stated that the addition of pay information to these mandatory reporting categories would allow the EEOC to “focus agency investigations, assess complaints of discrimination, and identify existing pay disparities that may warrant further examination.”  The initiative stems from the administration’s increased efforts to combat pay discrimination based on protected classifications.

Business groups have expressed concern that by releasing its compensation data, without referencing variables that affect workers’ pay, such as job titles, education, seniority and experience, they will have to spend significant time and resources explaining the non-discriminatory bases for employee pay rates.  Employers are also worried that confidential wage data will be accessible to competitors, despite the EEOC’s assurances to the contrary.

The public has until April 1, 2016 to comment on the proposed change.

EEOC SUES WELLSNESS SPA FOR PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION

The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an agency that enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, sued CFS Health Management, Inc., d/b/a Shefa Wellness Center, for pregnancy discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The EEOC filed suit alleging that the Company’s employee, April Raines, was unlawfully terminated after informing her boss that she was pregnant. The lawsuit alleges that Raines was a newly-hired, licensed skin care therapist who was fired just 2 days after announcing her pregnancy. When Raines asked why she was terminated, she was told that she deceived the Company by not disclosing her pregnancy during the interview. The EEOC seeks back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief for Raines.

EEOC APPEALS DISMISSAL OF PREGNANCY BIAS CASE AGAINST BLOOMBERG TO SECOND CIRCUIT

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission originally brought a class action suit on behalf of dozens of women against Bloomberg L.P., a company employing more than 15,000 people, alleging pregnancy discrimination.  The EEOC claimed that Bloomberg discriminated against women by demoting or reducing the pay of female employees after they announced their pregnancies and after they took maternity leave.

  This bias allegedly lead to demotions, exclusions from management meetings, reduced pay and responsibilities and stereotyping.  The New York court dismissed the class action suit, and the suit was converted into individual claims of discrimination, most of which were later dismissed.

Earlier this month, the EEOC appealed the court’s decision dismissing the remaining plaintiff’s claim for back pay.  In the notice of appeal filed in New York federal court, the EEOC stated that it was challenging all judgments dismissing its case against Bloomberg as well as various orders stemming from 2010.

This firm will continue to monitor the developments in this case.