By Emma Petite and Qiaojing Ella Zheng When your employer presents you with a severance agreement,...
Steps to Take When Presented with a Severance Agreement
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Employment Law
Working-Class Rights: I Was Laid Off. Now What?
By Abigail Everett, Jonathan Tepe, and Danya Rangachar In recent months, mass layoffs have shaken...
Employees Hit by Mass Layoffs Have Rights Under the WARN Act
By Trista Brantley, Myla McLeod, Samantha Schwartz, and Anastasia Thumser Mass layoffs have become...
New York’s New Law Targets Discipline and Retaliation for Lawful Absences
On November 21, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed S1958A/A8092B into law, which bars...
Mental Health Crisis: Your Rights in the Workplace
Between the lingering hold of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and political stressors, and financial...
Legal Recourse for Employment Discrimination on the Basis of Weight
Discrimination on the basis of weight is rampant in society. Yet only one state, Michigan, explicitly prohibits weight-based discrimination. Two other states, Massachusetts and New York, are currently considering bills that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of weight. Meanwhile, approximately 41.9% of adults in the United States are obese, and research indicates that overweight and obese people experience workplace discrimination in the form of stereotypes that they are lazy, unmotivated, and less competent. To the extent obesity is experienced as a disability, obese individuals can find protection from discrimination under federal disability law. Both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of a disability, defined as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity.” Major life activities include caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, breathing, and working. Some federal courts—like the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern District of Louisiana, and Northern District of Mississippi—have interpreted the ADA and Rehabilitation Act to protect employees from weight-based discrimination. So, until there is uniform federal legislation […]
The Speak Out Act: Another Step Forward in the Battle Against Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
On Thursday, September 29, the Speak Out Act passed in the Senate with bipartisan support. If it passes in the House and is signed into law by President Biden, it will be another important step toward holding perpetrators of workplace misconduct accountable. Following the passage of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Harassment Act of 2021 (the Ending Forced Arbitration Act) earlier this year, this development is a clear sign of progress toward eliminating the hurdles that survivors of workplace sexual assault and sexual harassment face when they try to seek redress for what they have endured. What is the Ending Forced Arbitration Act? The passage of the Ending Forced Arbitration Act last March was a landmark moment in the fight against sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace. The Ending Forced Arbitration Act makes forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts voidable insofar as they relate to sexual misconduct claims. Such clauses force employees to resolve their workplace disputes through arbitration rather than in court. The Act was not an all-in-one fix, though. First, the Act addressed only sexual assault and sexual harassment claims, leaving access to justice for other types of discrimination for another day. Second, […]
Which Employer Actions Qualify as “Adverse Employment Actions” for a Retaliation Claim?
Rarely when faced with an employee’s opposition to discrimination or other unlawful activity do employers fire the employee by telling them, “I am firing you because of your opposition to my unlawful activity.” Employers are usually subtler when they want to stop employees from speaking up. For example, they may change an employee’s job duties,[1] place a negative letter in an employee’s file,[2] or move an employee’s office to a less desirable location.[3] Most people would think these negative consequences are serious and would give rise to a claim for retaliation. Unfortunately, these issues are less straightforward than they should be because courts seldom reflect the views of most people. Under Title VII and other employment laws, an employer cannot “discriminate against any of his employees . . . because [the employee] has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice[.]” 42 U.S.C.§ 2000e-3(a). An employee alleging retaliation under Title VII must therefore show that “(1) she engaged in a protected activity; (2) her employer was aware of this activity; (3) the employer took adverse employment action against her; and (4) a causal connection exists between the alleged adverse action and the protected activity.”[4] In a previous blog post, I […]
Rights for Employees Returning to Work
Now that the pandemic seems to be winding down, many employers are considering if it is the right time to ask their employees to return to work. But with COVID laws and regulations still in effect, as well as existing disability, discrimination, and whistleblower laws, the answer to this question is complicated. At we understand that protecting your health at work is important, especially during a pandemic. That is why many people are concerned that if they refuse to return to work they could end up facing serious consequences or even be fired from their jobs. Keep reading to find out what rights you have if your employer asks you to return to work. Am I Entitled to Additional Accommodations When I Return? Some disabilities and mental health conditions can be exacerbated by COVID, which means employees might be entitled to additional accommodations or can ask their employer to alter existing accommodations when they return from the pandemic. This can include teleworking, socially-distanced workspaces, and access to PPE. Many state and local COVID laws also require employers to accommodate “vulnerable” workers, workers who live with vulnerable individuals, and workers who lack access to childcare due to COVID. For example, under […]
H.R. 4445: Congress Bars Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Cases
Attorneys at along with many other commentators (and, unfortunately, a number of forceful judicial dissents), have written extensively about how arbitration has been distorted and manipulated to deprive employees and other individuals of their legal rights and remedies and prevent them from holding companies fully accountable for unlawful conduct. Now, after years of stalled efforts in Congress, H.R. 4445 represents the first successful federal legislative inroads into an arbitration regime run amok. The bipartisan bill prevents employers from enforcing pre-dispute arbitration agreements—as well as waivers of class, collective, and joint actions—in sexual harassment and sexual assault cases. How H.R. 4445 Protects Employees Significantly, H.R. 4445 avoids any potential litigation disputes over whether a particular arbitration agreement was forced upon the employee or made a mandatory condition of employment. The bill allows any employee subject to such an agreement to freely elect whether to proceed in court or in arbitration. This was needed to provide a real and meaningful choice to workers. If employers are able to extract arbitration agreements from workers, they are also readily able to extract statements that such agreements were voluntary. Even workers given the ostensible option to opt-out at the point the agreement is imposed are […]