Under some circumstances, federal law provides job protections that may allow a veteran to keep a job that he or she would otherwise lose. While nearly all other workers could be fired for any or no reason, depending on the facts of the case, a veteran may only be fired “for cause,” which is a […]
Does Federal Law Protect Veterans From Being Fired? Read More »
Judges are busy people. As much as they may have wanted to make the world a better place when they started out, that impulse was probably beaten out of them after a few months on the bench. As a practical matter, the legal system is swamped with lawsuits, and the behavior at work that’s subject
What’s the Difference Between an Awful Boss and One Who Legally Harasses You? Read More »
Lawyers should be upstanding people who not only know the law but also follow it. We may represent clients who break the law, but we ourselves would like to be seen as law-abiding, good citizens, just like everyone else (if not better). It doesn’t always work that way, though. There are law firms that have
Do Law Firms Discriminate Against Female Attorneys? Read More »
February 14, 2017 As much of the nation wonders what will happen under a Trump administration, California, in some ways, might be less affected than the average state. “California is already more progressive when it comes to family leave issues,” says Tom Spiggle, an attorney who specializes in employee benefits. “Because California is on the
You don’t have to be pregnant right now to be covered by the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). Though it may sound strange, there are many civil rights laws that are meant to protect people in a certain group but that also cover those who, strictly speaking, don’t currently belong to that group. One of those laws is the
Can I Be Discriminated Against Because of a Past Pregnancy? Read More »
The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that about 20% of the population will experience a psychiatric disability during their lifetime. Given how common mental health issues are, the workplace is a common area where the needs of employees with psychiatric conditions may clash with the way management wants and needs to run an operation.
Does the ADA Cover Psychiatric Disabilities? Read More »
If you’re the victim of harassment, when you do the right thing and report it, your employer should start a good faith investigation into your allegations. Strictly speaking, there’s no law mandating that an investigation be done, but courts have interpreted antidiscrimination laws as requiring the employer to investigate if it wants to avoid liability.
What If My Employer Doesn’t Investigate My Sexual Harassment Complaint? Read More »
February 3, 2017 For the past week, many lawyers, including myself, organized by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and International Refugee Assistance Project, descended in significant numbers to airports like Washington Dulles International and John F. Kennedy International to help those detained pursuant to Trump’s un-American immigration ban. A friend at Dulles last
February 2, 2017 It defies logic that a man with a possibly marriage-ending secret would preemptively attack someone in a position to reveal that secret to his spouse — but logic and lust are rarely bedfellows. Whether he was nudging you out because of your knowledge about his profile, or for reasons unrelated to his
The Washington Post: When You See Your Married Boss’s Profile on a Dating Site Read More »
The law is not settled as to whether LGBTQ employees can legally be discriminated against due to their sexual orientation, though most courts have ruled that such discrimination is not covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Recently, a federal district court in Pennsylvania ruled that discrimination based on sexual preference
Does Federal Employment Law Forbid Sexual Orientation Discrimination? Read More »
