Wal-Mart’s Alleged Pregnancy Discrimination Makes the Headlines
A proposed lawsuit against Wal-Mart is a class action that claims the company has discriminated against pregnant workers by denying requests to restrict heavy lifting, making them climb on ladders and making them do other potentially harmful tasks. Details about the Pregnancy Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit According to Reuters two claimants, Otisha Woolbright and Talisha Borders, filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Illinois. The class would include 20,000 women and before the company’s policy changed, an estimated 50,000 women. The lawsuit is based on the American Disabilities Act (ADA), and the argument is that Wal-Mart did not extend the same accommodations to pregnant women as it did to other disabled workers. In 2014, Wal-Mart changed its company policy and began treating pregnancy as a disability. A Wal-Mart spokesman stated that Wal-Mart has always abided by federal law and addressed pregnancy as a protected class. In a U.S. Supreme Court 2015 decision that involved the United Parcel Service, the court ruled that employers must treat pregnant women the same as other workers with disabilities or medical conditions. The claimants’ lawyers’ argue that the Wal-Mart policy did not adequately address the issue. Case Details about the Claimants Otisha Woolbright claimed when she worked in a Florida Wal-Mart, her manager told her that pregnancy was not an excuse to get out of doing heavy lifting. She claims that after she injured herself living trays that weighed as much as 50 pounds and after she asked further about the company’s pregnancy policies, the store fired her. Tallish Borders worked at an Illinois Wal-Mart. She claims she was reprimanded for having... read moreSex Discrimination in the Medical Field
Sex discrimination occurs frequently in the medical field. It often manifests in the form of disparaging comments made to a female doctor about whether she intends to have children or not.
According to an article in NPR, the Physician Moms Group (PMG) is a professional forum where female physicians interact and receive support from each other regarding various types of work related issues. The group has more than 65,000 members. Thousands of members’ Facebook posts have appeared in the PMG forum where mothers talk about balancing motherhood and their professions.
read morePreventing Harassment from Occurring in Your Workplace
Many employers realize that preventing harassment in the workplace can mean the difference between a productive and profitable business and a business that faces legal threats and compromised profitability.
Workplace harassment is a form of discrimination and can be based on sex, race, disability, age, ethnicity/national origin, color and religion.
EEOC Study on Harassment
Recently, the Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released the results of a study about harassment along with recommendations that employers may find valuable in preventing workplace harassment.
read moreFox News Embroiled in Discrimination Lawsuits
Recently, Fox News has been high profile in the media for discrimination lawsuits brought by employees who are alleging sexual harassment and racial discrimination. The most shocking news report that hit the media and rocked the nation was about the firing of Bill O’Reilly due to sexual harassment allegations.
Bill O’Reilly Discrimination Lawsuits Based on Sexual Harassment
According to The New York Times , Fox settled complaints brought by five women who alleged Bill O’Reilly had sexually harassed them. The network launched an investigation into O’Reilly and discovered multiple women had reported inappropriate behavior that involved him.
The Murdoch family, which controls 21st Century Fox, decided the outcome, and in particular, Rupert Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan arrived at their decision after the internal investigation. They paid $13 million to settle the women’s complaints.
read moreWhat Is the New York Women’s Equality Agenda?
In October 2015, New York passed eight bills that were known as the Women’s Equality Agenda. Seven of the provisions of this law went into effect on January 19, 2016. As an employer, it is important to understand your rights and responsibilities under this new equal pay law in New York.
What Are the Main Changes in the Women’s Equality Agenda that Affect Employers?
One aspect of the Women’s Equality Agenda increases women’s protection against pay differentials based on sex by replacing the current “any other factor than sex” exception, which typically referred to seniority, merit, or a quantity/quality of production system and other non-sex related factors. The law replaces the “any other factor than sex” with “a bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training or experience.”
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