Companies are notoriously hesitant to hire employees who are – or who are likely to become – pregnant. Although they won’t admit it, some businesses fear that it will cost them too much money to pay for maternity leave and pregnancy-related health care costs. Other businesses worry…
As noted in an earlier post, the Supreme Court of the United States will likely be asked to review whether or not Title VII (also known as the Civil Rights Act) provides protection against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation at the federal level. The fact that…
Technically speaking, you don’t have to be disabled to suffer from disability discrimination. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has very strict regulations regarding disability discrimination, as a way to protect workers. They note that treating an employee or a potential employee less favorably due to…
In 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) found bans on same-sex marriage at the state level unconstitutional. Our country’s highest court stated that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states both allow and recognize same-sex marriages. These same justices that two years earlier struck down the…
You’ve been with the same company for more than two decades. Then, just a few weeks after you turn 50, they fire you. Suddenly, the career that you assumed you’d have until you decided to retire is gone. Was it a legitimate firing, for legal reasons, or…
Allergic reactions to food can happen quickly and be life threatening. An estimated 15 million people in America suffer from some sort of food allergy. Frighteningly, this number is increasing each day. A study conducted by the CDC found that between 1997 and 2011, food allergies in…
Social media has made communication easier in many ways. It has connected people in new ways and changed how and when they interact. However, it has also changed how sexual harassment happens in the workplace. For one thing, people who work together will often connect on social…
Missing work for an extended time is worrying. Yet nothing matters to new parents but the health and well-being of their child. Those first months together are important for the health of both the baby and mother, and the bonding that occurs is irreplaceable. That is why…
In 2014, the then Chief Trial Deputy in San Fransisco was fired. She says that she’d been investigating potential fraud and was fired as a retaliation, which is illegal. She filed a wrongful termination lawsuit. A jury just sided with her, saying that the city of San…
Woman who are expecting children can’t be discriminated against under U.S. law. That’s been true for decades, as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act went through in 1978. Below are a few key rights a woman has in the workplace: 1. The right to keep her job. She can’t…
