Archive for the ‘EEOC’ Category

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits the gathering of genetic information from employees or new hires unless such information  is deemed "job-related and consistent with business necessity." Another exception pertains to voluntary wellness programs, with the stipulation that the information obtained is kept confidential and not used in a manner that violates the Americans [...]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a wide-ranging meeting on July 26 to discuss a ban on pre-employment criminal background checks. A proposed regulation is expected to be released the week beginning Aug. 1, 2011, or shortly thereafter. In reaching this decision, the EEO commissioners indicated their main concern was the high rate of [...]

Lawyers for the Wal-Mart plaintiffs, whose massive class-action lawsuit was shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court as being too big and unfocused, are back in court today (July 29, 2011) to argue for a revival of the sex-bias complaint but on a narrower basis and with multiple lawsuits. The attorneys hope to file one [...]

In 2009 the Supreme Court ruled that the city of New Haven, Conn., had discriminated against a group of white firefighters who, though they had earned the top scores on an advancement test, were passed over for promotion in favor of minority firefighters because the latter were deemed to have been disadvantaged by the test. [...]

In a recent informal discussion letter, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suggested that employers who maintain both personal health information (PHI) and occupational health information in a single employee file are probably violating the privacy provisions of both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). Both acts severely [...]

On Tuesday, July 26, 2011, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) celebrates its 21st anniversary, having been signed into law on this same day in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush. Ironically, after erosion of some categories of protection in the landmark legislation, President George W. Bush, the former president's son, signed into law the [...]

In June the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held hearings on leave as a reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities, warning that inflexible company policies would incur EEOC legal wrath, and today that warning turned into reality as Verizon was forced to accept a $20-million settlement of a lawsuit over its hard-core absence policy. The [...]

Deliberate discrimination against job seekers based on their race, sex, age, national origin or other prohibited basis remains a major national problem, a battery of experts told the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) at a Commission meeting yesterday (June 22, 2011). “Intentional discrimination in hiring remains a significant problem,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. [...]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been busy investigating and holding public hearings on different types of so-called unintentional discrimination acts in hiring, acts which are based upon employers' use of credit checks, arrest records, and employment status ("The Unemployed Need Not Apply"). Next week the commission announced it will turn its attention to [...]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), during a recent public hearing, made it clear that companies with policies that dictate the termination of employees who stay on leaves of absence longer than originally specified will be challenged by the commission, probably through lawsuit. For example, if a company allows two years for a leave of [...]