For years, Ninth Circuit judge Alex Kozinski sexually harassed his law clerks, repeatedly making inappropriate comments and sharing pornography in chambers.  He could act with impunity—and other judges have been able to do the same—because our nation’s anti-discrimination laws have left law clerks and most other judicial employees unprotected.   Because of a loophole in Title […]

On September 22, 2020, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13950, “Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,” which, contrary to its title, seeks to undercut workplace equity and inclusion. The Executive Order—ostensibly targeting the anti-racism trainings that proliferated in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent national reckoning with systemic racism—prohibits federal […]

For job applicants, disclosing their current or prior salary can be one of the most anxiety-inducing parts of interviewing for a new job. Beginning on October 1, 2020, however, a new Maryland law will go into effect, prohibiting employers from asking job applicants for their wage history or relying on wage history in making hiring […]

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 […]

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, […]

A new Virginia law expands anti-discrimination protections for employees in the state and gives employees and civil rights advocates many reasons to celebrate.  Here are five. 1. Virginia employees are explicitly protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sexual identity. When the law goes into effect on July 1, 2020, there will […]

Because anti-discrimination laws vary state-to-state, your rights in the workplace depend on the state in which you live or work. New York was the first state to enact a law prohibiting employment discrimination, which has recently been amended to include stronger protections for workers. Last summer, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law amendments to the […]

The Department of Justice recently brought its first fraud case stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. The Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Justice Department’s Civil Division stated that “The Department of Justice will not tolerate criminal exploitation of this national emergency for personal gain” and that “We will use every resource at the government’s […]

If you live in Kentucky and are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, you should be aware of new protections that may apply to you and your employer. Last month Kentucky passed the Pregnant Workers Act with bipartisan support, making it the 25th state to pass specific legislation to protect pregnant employees. Federal laws […]

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a proposal to amend the Anti-Kickback Statute to expressly exclude from safe harbor protections rebates on prescription drugs paid by manufacturers to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), Part D plans, and Medicaid-managed care organizations.[1]  This proposal, if finalized, will alter the incentive structure for PBMs, benefiting consumers […]

As of October 9, 2018, New York State employers are now required to provide sexual harassment training pursuant to the State’s recently enacted sexual harassment prevention legislation, Section 201-g of the New York State Labor Law. This new law requires that all employers within New York, both private and public, provide annual anti-harassment training to […]

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) generally requires that employers pay employees at least $7.25 per hour. One of the few exceptions to the rule is “tipped employees” – including waiters, bartenders, and other employees who regularly receive gratuities for performing their jobs. The FLSA allows employers to subsidize the minimum wage paid to […]

As part of the national trend to pass state and local laws guaranteeing private-sector workers paid leave for family and caregiving responsibilities, Washington D.C. is poised to join California, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington state in offering this benefit. And I’m not alone in saying: it’s about time. A study conducted by […]

New York City workers and employee advocates cheered as the city last week passed legislation designed to protect some of its most vulnerable workers.  After being approved by the City Council on May 24, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the Fair Work Week legislative package into law on May 30, 2017, stating that “thousands of […]

In the past year, lawmakers in Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, New York City, and Philadelphia have passed “salary history laws.” These new laws make it illegal for employers to ask job applicants about their current salaries or the salaries they earned at previous jobs. To put it simply, these laws take your salary history off the […]