Law Blog

On January 15, 2020, oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States caught the attention of a news cycle primarily because Chief Justice John Roberts presented an interesting hypothetical question. Chief Justice Roberts presented a scenario in which an interviewer used the phrase “OK Boomer” while meeting with an older applicant. While the question presented by Chief Justice Roberts drew media attention because of the ongoing cultural discussion centered on the phrase “OK Boomer,” the argument before the court that day dealt with issues that could significantly change the way claims of age discrimination against federal employers are analyzed.

The United States Supreme Court will review two decisions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit involving the ministerial exception to federal employment discrimination law claims. On December 18, 2019, the Supreme Court granted petitions for a writ of certiorari in St. James School v. Biel and Our Lady of Gudadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, both decisions from the ninth circuit in which Catholic religious schools argued that the ministerial exception protected them from claims of discriminatory employment practices.

A job interview is one of the most stressful parts of job hunting. Despite the excitement and opportunity of being offered the job, the initial stages of meeting a potential employer and making a good impression are tough.

As we previewed in our earlier post LGBTQ Rights and the Workplace, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York has released its decision in Zarda v. Altitude Express, holding that sexual orientation discrimination is considered sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sex discrimination is one of the types of discrimination historically barred under Title VII. After a 10-3 vote, Chief Judge Robert Katzmann authored the majority opinion, which gives three separate legal grounds for their holding.

If a person has a disability, he or she might be eligible to bring a service animal into the workplace for assistance and support. Service animals are specially trained dogs that help people with emotional and physical disabilities.

New Collective Action filed in the Southern District of New YorkMory Camara, et al. v. A & P Parking Corp, and Muhammad Arif, individually, and Pirzada Uddin, individually, Case No. Case 17-CV-2187

Employees are protected from workplace discrimination based on a variety of factors, including their age. As long as someone is able to perform his or her job duties, laws protect against negative treatment based on age. Age-related discrimination is illegal under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”).

Everyone knows there are certain jobs that place value on a person’s appearance. For instance, it would be tough for someone to expect to work as a fitness model if he or she is not fit. When someone is searching for a job that requires a certain lifestyle, expectations related to appearance make sense, but what about regular jobs that have nothing to do with what a person does during his or her non-working hours.

If you are a job hunter, you already know how intimidating an experience the interview can be. Answering detailed questions about your work history and professional goals is enough to drive anyone into panic mode.

There have been a lot of recent public discussions concerning equal pay for equal work and other laws regarding employment discrimination based on gender. Employers must pay men and women the same wages or salary if they are equally qualified and doing the same work. This does not mean they must have the job title, but their day-to-day duties must be the same. For instance, if everything a man and woman do on the job is the same, but the woman has been assigned the title “administrative assistant” and the man “administrative manager,” the woman could argue a case for discrimination.

Employment decisions based on a person’s age are illegal. What can you do if you suspect you were turned down for a job because of your age?

New Collective Action filed in the Eastern District of New York

As you get older, you tend to feel more confident about things. You might have a comfortable savings and some equity in you home. Though you might be strapped with college costs or helping adult children in other ways, in general, things are far more secure than they were in early adulthood.

Working for a small company has its advantages – things are sometimes more laid back, you feel like a person instead of just a number, and you often form close personal bonds with your co-workers. Unfortunately, there are also drawbacks to working for a small company. In addition to the reduced benefits and lack of opportunity you might encounter, small business culture can be very different from that of a large corporation.

In 2013, it was held that an unpaid intern working in New York City did not have a right to sue for sexual harassment because she was not an “employee” under the City’s Human Rights Law. Since the classification of “employee” did not apply to unpaid interns, such interns also did not have standing to sue in New York City administrative agencies. The effect of this narrowed classification eliminated unpaid interns from having standing to sue for sexual harassment or unlawful discrimination.

“Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument.”- Samuel Johnson