Your employee has just told you she is pregnant. What do you do? Do you: A. Decide it’s time to celebrate, throw a party and buy lots of booties; B. Fire her once she’s five months pregnant. That’s your company’s policy. C. Congratulate her, ask her when she is looking to go out on leave, […]
Sex Discrimination Works Both Ways
We are often inundated with stories about sexual harassment, unequal pay, failure to hire or promote or similar issues. Virtually all of the stories discuss unequal treatment of women–and with good reason. It happens so often. Title VII (and many state laws) however, prohibit employment discrimination based on sex. The law doesn’t limit its protections […]
Rumor Has It…That Sexual Rumors May Be Sexual Harassment
Have you ever had to deal with rumors of sexual misconduct in your workplace? Chances are you have — or you’ve at least heard sexual rumors. Is spreading rumors that a female employee is sleeping with her boss sexual harassment? Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination “because of” sex. The […]
Employment Discrimination? S/he’s Not My Employee…
Can you be liable for employment discrimination against someone who’s not your employee? Sometimes. Title VII and the other aforementioned laws prohibit employers from discriminating. These laws loosely define employers as entities with a minimum number of employees, usually 15 or more (20 or more under the ADEA). If you meet that threshold, you are […]
Sexual Harassment?! But We Have Policies and Training…
I can’t count the number of employers that have expressed shock to me that anyone could allege that sexual harassment goes on in their workplace. Most employers have written policies prohibiting sexual harassment. They state in no uncertain terms that they do not tolerate sexual harassment. Often they find out that in fact it’s not […]