On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of plaintiffs in Obergefell et al vs. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health, et al, (No. 14-556), allowing same sex couples to marry in every state. The landmark decision, authored by Justice Kennedy, held that the plaintiffs, who were seeking “equal dignity in the eyes
Pregnant Employees must be granted reasonable accommodations when the employer has provided similar accommodations to other individuals with similar limitations. The United States Supreme Court ruling is a victory for Peggy Young, a former driver for UPS who claimed the package company violated her rights under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). She will now have
Sexual harassment is a specific type of workplace discrimination based on sex . It includes: unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature in which submission to or rejection of such conduct explicitly or implicitly affects and individual’s work or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
An Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) conference highlighting employment discrimination due to national origin was held in Washington, D.C. on November 13, 2013. Discrimination on the basis of national origin is prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This protection can be broadly applied not only to discrimination resulting merely from
The country may be in store for a new federal civil rights act, this one protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees from employment discrimination. Monday, U.S. Senate member voted to begin debate on the Employment nondiscrimination Act, also known as ENDA. A vote on whether or not to pass the law could
New Jersey employees had reason to rejoice this summer, as the New Jersey legislature passed two pieces of legislation on August 27th that strengthens employee privacy and prohibit certain types of discrimination based on private matters.
A Red Lobster Franchisee, GMRI, Inc., has been charged in a lawsuit alleging pervasive sexual harassment and discrimination at its Salisbury, MD location, in violation of federal law. The Philadelphia Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) district office in Pennsylvania is bringing the claim. The EEOC is a federal agency charged with handling employment discrimination
On September 30, 2013, New Jersey (NJ) Senate proposed legislation requiring employers to make reasonable accommodation available for pregnancy-related needs when requested by the employees with the advice of their physician. Currently, under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJ LAD), there is no requirement that preferential leave be given to a pregnant employee, unless
On May 6, 2013, New Jersey (NJ) and Pennsylvania (PA) employment attorneys Swartz Swidler, LLC, on behalf of a former female employee of Tosoh Bioscience, LLC filed a federal lawsuit in Philadelphia asserting that the employee was subjected to severe sexual harasment and fired for complaining of same, in violation of Title VII of the