New York Judicial Committee Issues Report and Recommendations on Gender Equity in State Court
Posted December 11th, 2020 by Carolin Guentert and Lucy Zhou in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
In November 2020, the New York State Judicial Committee on Women in the Courts released its 2020 Gender Survey, detailing the treatment of women attorneys, litigants, and court employees in the state court system. While the study found that the treatment of women has improved markedly in the last few decades, it also found that […]
The Impact of the New Title IX Regulations on K-12 Schools
Posted November 25th, 2020 by Christine Dunn in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
On August 14, 2020, the Department of Education’s final regulations regarding sexual harassment under Title IX went into effect. This marks the final step in a controversial process that began in November 2018, when President Trump’s Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos submitted a proposal to drastically overhaul many aspects of the Title IX guidelines instituted […]
Statute of Limitations Under Title IX
Posted May 1st, 2020 by Nicole Wiitala in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits colleges, universities, and schools that receive federal funding from engaging in sex discrimination. Like all legal claims, there are strict time limitations (the “statute of limitations”) within which a Title IX claim must be filed. Because Title IX does not explicitly set a statute of limitations, […]
Discrimination and Harassment in Graduate School: What Laws Protect You
Posted March 24th, 2020 by Alok Nadig in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
Graduate school can be an exciting time in a person’s life. Especially if you start a graduate program immediately after completing college, you can expect to spend the remaining years of your 20s honing your areas of academic expertise, completing a dissertation, and building meaningful professional connections with prominent faculty and staff in your chosen […]
Sexual Harassment is a Form of Illegal Housing Discrimination
Posted March 4th, 2019 by David Tracey in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
The Federal Fair Housing Act, along with many state and local laws, prohibits gender discrimination in housing, including sexual harassment. It is illegal for landlords, property managers, real estate agents, and maintenance staff to demand sexual favors in exchange for access to housing or repairs. They also cannot create a hostile environment for tenants based […]
Can I Still Bring a Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, or Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against My School or University?
Posted February 15th, 2019 by Austin Webbert in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
The #MeToo Movement continues to call attention to victims of sexual violence and discrimination. A chorus of survivors’ voices grows. More and more survivors are filing sex discrimination lawsuits to vindicate their rights in court and hold accountable both the perpetrators who harmed them and the institutions that failed to protect them. Often it is […]
Is it a Hostile Work Environment or Evidence of Other Workplace Discrimination?
Posted January 22nd, 2019 by Thomas J. Henderson in Employment Discrimination.
Although many employees describe what they face at work as a “hostile work environment,” frequently what they are experiencing or observing is evidence of another type of workplace discrimination. It is therefore important for employees who believe they are experiencing discrimination in the workplace—and the lawyers who represent them—to look closely and carefully at all […]
Filing a Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Under a Pseudonym
Posted December 10th, 2018 by Nicole Wiitala in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure generally require that a publicly filed lawsuit name all the parties involved. However, under certain circumstances, plaintiffs can avoid disclosing their name by filing a lawsuit using a pseudonym (such as “Jane Doe” or “John Doe”). Although the use of a pseudonym commonly arises in sexual harassment cases, some […]
The Legal Profession has a Uniquely Disturbing Gender Disparity in Job Satisfaction
Posted December 5th, 2018 by Jonathan Tepe in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
Researchers at Vanderbilt Law School have found an alarming disparity in the job satisfaction rates between recent male and female law graduates, as detailed in a forthcoming research paper in the Marquette Law Review. The researchers discovered that “recently graduated female lawyers are 19 percentage points less likely to state that they are very satisfied […]
Sexual Harassment Training: Mandatory in Several States and Critical Nationwide
Posted November 6th, 2018 by Melinda Koster in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
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 […]
NYU Lawsuit Highlights Potential Problems with Sexual Harassment and Assault Investigations
Posted August 28th, 2018 by Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
Universities and employers have a duty to respond to allegations of sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination. Many organizations conduct investigations before responding, and plaintiffs have filed gender discrimination lawsuits based on the investigations themselves. For one example, read coverage of Sanford Heisler Sharp’s trial about a Columbia University investigation here. Whether an investigation is so […]
The EEOC’s #MeToo Moment
Posted August 20th, 2018 by Saba Bireda in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
The EEOC first convened its Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace in 2015 and 2016. The Task Force issued a report and several recommendations aimed at employers and the EEOC itself. The Task Force’s 2016 report foreshadowed many of the issues that would later become central to the #MeToo conversation. […]
Lawyers Too: Recent Developments in the Legal Profession’s #MeToo Moment
Posted August 1st, 2018 by Meredith Firetog in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
In my legal writing class my first year of law school, each student presented mock oral arguments, and received feedback from classmates. Following my argument, I was told that I was “persuasive” and “well prepared,” but what resonated most was the handful of classmates who described my argument as “aggressive.” One classmate felt that I […]
New York Prohibits Mandatory Arbitration of Sexual Harassment Claims
Posted July 20th, 2018 by Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP in Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
The #MeToo movement has shined an unflattering light on employer-mandated arbitration agreements, which commonly prevent victims of sexual harassment from speaking publicly about their experiences. Mandatory and confidential arbitration has the effect of forcing women into silence, while allowing perpetrators to continue to harass and assault other employees. With the rise of the #MeToo movement, […]
What Rights Do I Have If I Signed A Non-Disclosure Agreement Or Confidential Settlement Of Employment Discrimination Case With My Employer?
Posted November 2nd, 2017 by Thomas J. Henderson in Employment Discrimination, Gender Discrimination and Harassment.
Revelations that Harvey Weinstein and Bill O’Reilly entered into serial confidential settlements with women who claimed they were sexually harassed in the workplace has brought a great deal of attention to non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in settlement agreements. Indeed, this increased attention has lead lawmakers in certain states to propose changes in […]