Discrimination

Expert Analysis

• How Viral Accusations Can Test Employers' Discipline Policies

  

  The employment fallout that appears to have followed a former Cornell University student's sexual assault lawsuit against seven fraternity members underscores that although employers often have freedom to fire employees over accusations, they must still make a defensible decision, says Michael Elkins at MLE Law.

• Managing Employer Risk Under Calif.'s No Robo Bosses Law

  

  California's No Robo Bosses Act marks the state's first statutory limit on using artificial intelligence in employee discipline and termination decisions, creating exposure for employers through its corroboration and notice requirements, burden-shifting framework, and potential reach under the Private Attorneys General Act, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

• Remote Work Ruling Clarifies Calif. Law Limits, With Caveats

  

  Although a California state appeals court's recent decision in Saberin v. Alation confirmed that California employment laws do not operate extraterritorially merely because a company is headquartered in the state, employers shouldn't construe this as authorization to relocate decision-makers to circumvent statutory obligations, says Hallie Aylesworth at Sheppard.

• A Nuanced Reading Of DOL's Mental Health Parity Guidance

  

  Though a recent U.S. Department of Labor bulletin may suggest that agency enforcement pressure on group health plans with respect to mental health parity is easing, the takeaways are more complex, and plan sponsors should not relax compliance efforts, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• Tips For Employers As Calif. Court Limits Harassment Liability

  

  Doe v. Wells Fargo appears to be the first published California appellate decision to determine that the harasser must have supervisory authority over the plaintiff to trigger strict liability, underscoring the value of accurately documenting job roles and reporting lines, says Ellen Connelly Cohen at Call & Jensen.

• Religious Accommodation Lessons From Recent EEOC Focus

  

  With several recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforcement actions focusing on religious accommodations, employers should identify the actual burden an accommodation imposes, distinguish operational hardship from co-workers' objections, and pay attention to how the accommodation is implemented, says Crystal Banse at Spencer West.

• 3rd Circ. Ruling Shows ADA Limits Amid Worker Misconduct

  

  In Hileman v. West Penn Allegheny Health System, the Third Circuit recently rejected a wrongful termination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, illustrating that disability and leave laws don't automatically insulate employees from the consequences of prior workplace misconduct, say attorneys at Bond Schoeneck.

• What Greek Tragedy Teaches About Mediating AI Disputes

  

  While ancient Greek writers could not have anticipated modern arbitration, their tragic plays illustrate new and familiar questions for mediators dealing with artificial intelligence disputes, including the functional differences between adjudication and resolution, says Giuseppe De Palo at JAMS.

• Tracking Trends In State-Level Regulatory Enforcement

  

  State-level enforcement now increasingly involves antitrust, artificial intelligence and data privacy issues, and the key for organizations to reducing risk is having the ability to respond across governance, public affairs, discovery and remediation in multiple states simultaneously, say consultants at FTI Consulting.

• Tips From Apex Ruling On Handling Workers' Public Criticism

  

  A National Labor Relations Board judge’s recent finding that Apex Fintech Services illegally reined in an employee’s public criticism on LinkedIn should caution employers that overbroad policies and reflexive responses may not only fail to defend the company’s reputation, but compound risks of federal labor charges, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

• Risk Considerations As EEOC Moves To Ax Data Reports

  

  While the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent proposal to rescind requirements for workforce demographic reporting wouldn't bar employers from collecting data, companies would have to be especially careful to gather and use such information in legally defensible ways, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

• 9th Circ. Ruling Raises Bar For Arbitration Pacts Via Email

  

  The Ninth Circuit's recent holding in Rickes v. Thermo Fisher that the mere delivery of an email doesn't establish an employee's assent to the arbitration agreement underscores that rollout processes should both give employees notice of the agreement and create evidence of their assent, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

• OpenAI Deal Highlights AI Hiring Risks In PERM Process

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice's recent settlement of allegations that OpenAI discriminated against U.S. applicants for positions connected to the permanent labor certification process underscores that employers providing or using artificial intelligence must align their recruitment practices with their overlapping compliance obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.