The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced last week that it has settled a sexual harassment and constructive discharge lawsuit the day before the case was set to be presented to a jury. The suit was brought by the EEOC on behalf of Misty Kratky, the only female employee at Hobson Air Conditioning, [...]

Last week, a group of 19 women filed suit against Chicago-based Irish pub and restaurant Tilted Kilt and its Arizona parent company for sexual harassment, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In June 2011, the women filed two separate charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and on February 8, 2012 they filed [...]

In dismissing a lawsuit filed in United States District Court in Houston, Texas by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of an employee who fired for requesting space to pumping breast milk at work, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes held that Title VII provisions barring pregnancy and childbirth related discrimination in the workplace [...]

The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced in a press release last week that the Commission had obtained a federal jury verdict in the amount of $51,700 in back pay, compensatory and punitive damages.  The EEOC prosecuted the suit on behalf of four family members who were fired for resisting sexual harassment at [...]

In late January, Yale University publicly released a report on student and faculty sexual harassment complaints filed between July and December of 2011.  The report comes amidst an ongoing Department of Education (DOE) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) investigation into Yale administration’s possible mishandling of sexual harassment, assault and gender discrimination grievances.  Tasked with examining violations [...]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit last week overturned a district court decision holding that the jury had erred as a matter of law when it issued a verdict finding that a Louisiana man had been sexually harassed.  In Cherry v. Shaw Coastal, Inc., the plaintiff, John Cherry, was employed as an [...]

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced on January 11, 2012 that it had settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with Family Dollar Stores, a discount retailer based in Richmond, Virginia.  In a complaint filed on September 20, 2011, the EEOC alleged that Chanele Brown, a customer services representative at a Richmond Family Dollar store, [...]

The Delaware Supreme Court ruled on December 28, 2011, that a letter sent to Mark Hurd, former chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard Co. (“H-P”), by counsel for a former employee accusing Mr. Hurd of sexual harassment, should be made public.  The Wall Street Journal reported that Jodie Fisher, a former actress hired by Mr. Hurd’s [...]

The Associated Press reported on December 22, 2011, that Golden State Warriors star guard Monta Ellis, as well as Warriors management, were the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former employee.  Erika Ross Smith, formerly of the team’s community relations department, alleged in her lawsuit that in November 2010, Ellis began sending [...]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced last week that a federal court had approved a consent judgment entered into by the EEOC and Blockbuster, Inc.  As part of the judgment, the company agreed to pay over $2 million in damages to settle a lawsuit filed by the EEOC for sexual harassment, discrimination based on [...]