Retail Labor and Employment Law

Retail Labor and Employment Law

News, Updates, and Insights for Retail Employers

Tag Archives: Discrimination

Posted on by George M. Macchia

Rumor and Drama at Retailer Creates Jury Question

In January, a New York federal district court denied a retailer’s bid to dismiss a former regional manager’s lawsuit alleging that workplace rumors spread by three female co-workers that she showed her breasts to the company’s CEO by wearing a revealing blouse without a bra and that her subsequent termination shortly after she complained about the gossip constituted hostile work environment sex discrimination and retaliatory discharge. Baez v. Anne Fontaine USA, Inc., No. 14-cv-56621 (KBF), 2017 U.S. LEXIS 1630 (S.D.N.Y. Jan . 5, 2017).

Background

Baez, who normally dressed without a bra, was employed as the East Coast Regional … Continue Reading

Posted on by John M. O'Connor

Second Circuit Extends the Reach of the Cat’s Paw

In employment litigation, plaintiffs often rely on the “cat’s paw” doctrine to hold their employers liable for discriminatory or retaliatory animus of a supervisory employee who influenced, but did not make, the ultimate employment decision.  On August 29, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Vasquez v. Empress Ambulance Service, Inc., greatly extended the reach of the “cat’s paw,” holding that the doctrine could be applied to hold an employer liable for an adverse employment decision that was influenced by the discriminatory or retaliatory animus of a low-level, non-supervisory co-worker.

The plaintiff, an emergency … Continue Reading

Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Seventh Circuit: Title VII Does Not Cover Sexual Orientation Bias

Our colleague Linda B. Celauro, Senior Counsel at Epstein Becker Green, has a post on the Financial Services Employment Law blog that will be of interest to many of our readers in the retail industry: “Seventh Circuit Panel Finds That Title VII Does Not Cover Sexual Orientation Bias.”

Following is an excerpt:

Bound by precedent, on July 28, 2016, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that sexual orientation discrimination is not sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The panel thereby affirmed the decision of … Continue Reading

Posted on by Susan Gross Sholinsky and Ann Knuckles Mahoney

EEOC Targets Religious and National Origin Discrimination Against Individuals Who Are, or Are Perceived to Be, Muslim or Middle Eastern

The EEOC has released several new guidance tools, for both employers and employees, focused upon religious and national origin discrimination against people who are (or are perceived to be) Muslim. This focus on religious and national origin discrimination is particularly important for retail employers because retailers often require employees to follow dress codes or work at times that may conflict with religious observance.

In December 2015, EEOC Chair Jenny Yang released a statement highlighting the need for employers to “remain vigilant” in light of the recent terrorist attacks. Yang commended employers that have “taken steps to issue or re-issue policies … Continue Reading

Posted on by Susan Gross Sholinsky and Nancy L. Gunzenhauser

The Focus of Equal Pay Laws Is Redefined

Several states have recently passed laws (California, Maryland,[1] and New York) or have bills currently pending in their state legislatures (California,[2] Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Jersey) [3] seeking to eliminate pay differentials on the basis of sex (and, in some cases, other protected categories) (collectively, “Equal Pay Laws”).

Among other provisions, most of the Equal Pay Laws contain four components. They aim to (i) strengthen current equal pay standards, (ii) create pay transparency rules, (iii) expand equal pay protections beyond gender, and (iv) redefine the geographic reach of existing equal pay laws.

Strengthening of Current Equal Pay Standards… Continue Reading

Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

New Online Resource Can Help Employers Make Their eRecruiting Technologies Accessible to All Job Seekers

Our colleague Frank C. Morris, Jr., attorney at Epstein Becker Green, has a post on the Financial Services Employment Law blog that will be of interest to many of our readers in the retail industry: “New Online Recruiting Accessibility Tool Could Help Forestall ADA Claims by Applicants With Disabilities.”

Following is an excerpt:

In recent years, employers have increasingly turned to web based recruiting technologies and online applications. For some potential job applicants, including individuals with disabilities, such as those who are blind or have low vision, online technologies for seeking positions can prove problematic. For example, … Continue Reading

Posted on by Peter M. Panken, Nancy L. Gunzenhauser and Marc-Joseph Gansah

Employers Should Care About This: New York City’s Amendment on Caregiver Discrimination

The New York City’s Human Rights law (“NYCHRL”) prohibits employment discrimination against specified protected classes of employees and applicants including:

Employers Should Care About This: New York City’s Amendment on Caregiver Discrimination race, color, creed, age, national origin, alienage or citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, partnership status, any lawful source of income, status as a victim of domestic violence or status as a victim of sex offenses or stalking, whether children are, may be or would be residing with a person or conviction or arrest record.

If this list wasn’t long enough, on May 4, 2016, NYCHRL will add “caregivers” to the protected classes including, anyone who provides ongoing … Continue Reading

Posted on by Laura A. Stutz

New York City Expands Protections of Its Human Rights Law and Provides for Agency Awards of Attorney’s Fees to Complainants

On March 28, 2016, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed three pieces of legislation passed earlier this month by The New York City Council to amend the City’s Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”).

The new laws:

  1. require that the NYCHRL be interpreted expansively to maximize civil rights protections, regardless of how courts have interpreted similar provisions under federal and state anti-discrimination laws;
  2. permit the City’s Commission on Human Rights the authority to award attorney’s fees and costs to complainants in cases brought before the Commission; and
  3. repeal language addressing how to construe the NYCRHL’s prohibition against discrimination on the
… Continue Reading
Posted on by Nancy L. Gunzenhauser

Reminder: All Philadelphia Employers Must Post New Ban-the-Box Poster

Nancy L. Gunzenhauser

Nancy L. Gunzenhauser

One of the requirements of the amended Philadelphia ban-the-box law has gone into effect. As of March 14, 2016, Philadelphia employers are required to post a new poster provided by the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations in a conspicuous place on both the employer’s website and on premises, where applicants and employees will be most likely to notice and read it.

The amended law strengthens the prohibition on requesting criminal conviction information prior to a conditional offer of employment. Employers in Philadelphia may no longer use a multijurisdictional application with a criminal conviction question, even where the … Continue Reading

Posted on by Laura C. Monaco

EEOC’s Recent Lawsuits Assert That Unlawful Sex Discrimination Under Title VII Includes Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Laura C. Monaco

Laura C. Monaco

This week, the EEOC filed its first two federal lawsuits that frame allegations of sexual orientation-based harassment and discrimination as claims of unlawful “sex discrimination” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In EEOC v. Pallet Companies the EEOC alleges that an employee’s night-shift manager harassed her because of her sexual orientation by making repeated offensive comments (sometimes accompanied by sexually suggestive gestures), such as “I want to turn you back into a woman” and “I want you to like men again.”  According to the Complaint, the employee was discharged after she complained about … Continue Reading

Posted on by Joshua A. Stein

Defending Against Website Accessibility Claims: Recent Decisions Suggest the Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine Is Unlikely to Serve As Businesses’ Silver Bullet

Joshua A. Stein

Joshua A. Stein

For businesses hoping to identify an avenue to quickly and definitively defeat the recent deluge of website accessibility claims brought by industrious plaintiff’s firms, advocacy groups, and government regulators in the initial stages of litigation, recent news out of the District of Massachusetts – rejecting technical/jurisdictional arguments raised by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – provides the latest roadblock.

In National Association of the Deaf, et al., v. Harvard University, et al. (Case No. 3:15-cv-30023-MGM, Dist. Mass.) and National Association of the Deaf, et al., v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Case No. 3:15-cv-30024-MGM, Dist. … Continue Reading

Posted on by Nancy L. Gunzenhauser, Judah L. Rosenblatt and Kate B. Rhodes

EEOC Rules Discrimination Based On Sexual Orientation Illegal Under Title VII

In the wake of several high-profile wins for the LGBT community, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) added employment discrimination protection to the list.  On July 16, 2015, the EEOC ruled that discrimination against employees based on sexual orientation is prohibited by Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) as discrimination based on sex.

The EEOC held that “[s]exual orientation discrimination is sex discrimination because it necessarily entails treating an employee less favorably because of the employee’s sex.”  The EEOC noted that sex-based considerations also encompassed gender-based considerations under Title VII. This ruling, if … Continue Reading

Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Now Trending with Interns: More Protections Under the Law

By Nancy L. Gunzenhauser 

As we’ve previously advised, make sure you are prepared for interns this summer! This summer there’s a new legal trend about interns. While wage and hour lawsuits are still hot, the new “it” trend seems to be laws that extend protection against discrimination and harassment for interns.  Recently, states and cities have been adding interns to the protected individuals under their human rights laws.

Retailers have long used interns, both to provide training opportunities for the interns and to supplement their workforce over the summer months. Whether an intern should be paid or unpaid … Continue Reading

Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Court Finds Continuing Duty Exists to Engage in Interactive Process with Employees Who Exhaust Medical Leave

By Marisa S. Ratinoff and Amy Messigian

In a matter of first impression, the California Court of Appeal held last month that an employee who exhausts all permissible leave under the Pregnancy Disability Leave (“PDL”) provisions of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) and is terminated by her employer may nevertheless state a cause of action for discrimination.

In Sanchez v. Swissport, Inc., the plaintiff, a former employee of Swissport, alleged that she was diagnosed with a high risk pregnancy requiring bed rest in February 2009 and was due to give birth in October 2009. The plaintiff … Continue Reading

Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Forever 21 May Pursue Employment Claim in Arbitration

By Amy Messigian

Last month, the California Court of Appeal ruled that a former employee of Forever 21 must try her claims against the retailer in arbitration, enforcing the company’s employment arbitration policy and reversing a lower court decision finding the agreement unconscionable under California law.  The plaintiff, Maribel Baltazar, alleged that she had been discriminated against by the retailer due to her race and sexually harassed by a supervisor and coworker.  She filed a complaint against Forever 21 and several of its employees in the Los Angeles Superior Court and the retailer moved to compel Baltazar to arbitration.

Reversing … Continue Reading

Posted on by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Welcome News for New York Employers: Appellate Court Rejects Its Prior Ruling That a Plaintiff Alleging Discrimination Under the New York City Human Rights Law Is Entitled to a Trial in Almost Every Case

by Barry Asen

New York management-side attorneys and their clients were surprised and chagrined when they read Bennett v. Health Management Systems, Inc., a case decided in December 2011 by the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department (“the First Department”), which sits in Manhattan.  Writing for the unanimous five-judge court, Justice Rolando Acosta directed that because the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) explicitly provides that it should be liberally construed, summary judgment motions should only be granted in the employer’s favor in “rare and unusual” circumstances.

Justice Acosta stated that even if a terminated … Continue Reading

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