The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued a decision on Friday, April 20, 2012, which held that discrimination against transgender individuals constitutes sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Law360 reported the EEOC found that discrimination against an individual because that person is transgender is, by definition, discrimination [...]

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 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 do [...]

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 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 [...]

Catalyst, a non-profit membership organization founded in 1962 to expand opportunities for women and business, released two surveys today reflecting the fact that women’s leadership is still stalled in corporate America.  The surveys discussed the failure of women to continue to make gains within board and executive officer positions over the past year.  Specifically, the [...]

Department of Labor (“DOL”) Secretary Hilda Solis spoke at the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (“NGLCC”) on November 18 to discuss the administration’s support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (“LGBT”) employees and entrepreneurs.  She first recounted a list of LGBT advancements that she had overseen as Secretary of Labor, including: * Applying [...]

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled earlier this month that hearsay comments made by the human resources (“HR”) director at a law firm could constitute “direct evidence” of pregnancy discrimination. In Makowski v. SmithAmundsen LLC, Lisa Makowski sued her employer for pregnancy discrimination and violations of her rights under the Family Medical Leave Act of [...]

In an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday, researcher Cynthia Calvert, senior adviser at the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, talked about a recent EEOC study finding claims of pregnancy discrimination still rampant in the United States.  Since 1997, the first time the EEOC gathered statistics on incidences of pregnancy [...]