Tag: discrimination

More human rights ‘frustrations’

by David G. Wong Traditionally, when an employee’s absenteeism was excessive and there was no reasonable prospect of  returning to work in the foreseeable future—as long as there was no contractual term providing otherwise—a Canadian employer could discharge the employee for non-culpable absenteeism or treat the employment contract as having been frustrated. This would bring […]

NC General Assembly does more than just invalidate Charlotte’s LGBT ordinance

by Richard L. Rainey On Wednesday night, the North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill (HB) 2, which was then signed by Governor Pat McCrory. While HB 2 was prompted by the desire to overturn Charlotte’s recently enacted ordinance that banned discrimination against LGBT people in the provision of public accommodations and allowed transgender individuals […]

Employer Pays $50K for Refusing to Hire Worker in Methadone Treatment Program

A temporary staffing agency based in Baltimore has agreed to pay $50,000 to resolve claims that it refused to hire an applicant because of her participation in a methadone treatment program. Randstad, US, LP entered into the agreement to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging that its actions violated the Americans with […]

Court: Employers Can Condition Health Benefit on Wellness Participation

An employer may require its workers to participate in a wellness program in order to receive health insurance benefits, a federal district court has ruled, dismissing a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Granting summary judgment for the employer, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin said it disagreed […]

Thompson’s Top HR Stories of 2015

The start of a new year offers the opportunity to take stock, and to plan ahead. It’s anyone’s guess what 2016 will hold for human resources professionals, but looking back at the stories that drew the most interest from our reader community provides some useful insights on what to watch for in the new year. […]

Age, sex, and sports media

Sports reporter Colleen Dominguez is 54 years old and has enjoyed a successful career in sports journalism including a lengthy stint at ESPN. Dominguez recently jumped to Fox Sports 1 and believes her age and gender are the only plausible reasons that FS1 has cut her broadcasting assignments and diminished her career. These are her allegations in […]

Friend or foe: illegal or inappropriate interview questions

by Michelle Dougherty Asking illegal or inappropriate interview questions is one of the easiest ways for an employer to create a risk for discrimination claims. It isn’t unusual for polite, friendly, personal, non-job-specific conversation to be part of the interview process. However, when conducting an interview, you must always be aware that even indirect or […]

New Connecticut law protects interns from discrimination, harassment

by Ashley Harrison Sakakeeny Employers in Connecticut should update their antidiscrimination and antiharassment policies to cover unpaid interns as a new state law becomes effective October 1. The new law, Public Act 15-56, prohibits discrimination and harassment against interns much like current laws protect employees. It prohibits discrimination based on an intern’s race, color, age, […]