Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia has rightly been heralded as a true milestone for LGBTQ rights, including by my colleague Alok Nadig, who describes the decision here. Bostock brings LGBT Americans into the fold of Title VII’s protections against discrimination “because of sex” and has important ramifications with regard to other federal laws adopting similarly-worded […]

The Supreme Court’s opinion released earlier this week in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia represents an outstanding milestone in the LGBTQ civil rights movement, and numerous posts and articles rightly celebrate this, including this one by my colleague Alok Nadig. The opinion also reminds us of several concepts that can benefit all victims of unlawful […]

In this cultural moment, the conversation surrounding reparations for American’s cardinal sin of slavery, segregation, and racial oppression will likely gain momentum. It is about time for this issue to become of part of mainstream social and political discourse and for significant progress to be made. The case for reparations has been laid out here, […]

Yesterday, in its long-anticipated decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court squarely held that discrimination against gay and transgender employees in the workplace is illegal under federal law.  The case arose from the terminations of three brave plaintiffs from their places of employment: Gerald Bostock, who was fired from his job […]

At Sanford Heisler Sharp, we are committed to the bedrock principle of equal justice under law.  We support and stand behind peaceful protests to bring about long-needed societal reform, take on systemic racism, and make our world a better place for everyone. In the familiar words of Dr. King, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to […]

According to a policy brief by the UN Secretary-General published on April 9, 2020, “across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex.” The policy brief concludes that of the nearly 2.7 billion workers impacted by […]

Participants in their company’s 401(k) plan have come to expect that their employer will protect their personal information from disclosure outside the plan. However, plan participants of Shell Oil’s 401(k) have filed a case in federal court in Galveston, Texas – Harmon v. Shell Oil Company – alleging Shell took no action to stop the […]

After nearly two years of highly contested litigation, the Eastern District of Tennessee United States District Court recently granted final approval of a class action settlement resolving Tennessee auto-workers’ age discrimination claims against Volkswagen. Plaintiffs, represented by attorneys in Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP’s Nashville and New York offices, brought this lawsuit on behalf of older […]

In California, individuals been harmed by public entities must comply with the stringent and idiosyncratic requirements of the Tort Claims Act (TCA) in order to preserve their right to pursue legal action and recover damages. While most employees have between 300 days and three years to initiate legal action against their employers, those with claims […]

Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) reported that Carlos Escobar-Mejia, a 57-year-old Salvadoran man, died in custody at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in California. Mr. Escobar-Mejia was the first reported individual in ICE detention to die from COVID-19. Though Mr. Escobar-Mejia had lived in the U.S. for over 40 years, an […]