Yesterday, the New York City Council voted unanimously to extend the protections of the New York City Human Rights Law to unpaid interns. Now, interns will be protected from unlawful discrimination and harassment, like paid employees. The amendment defines an “intern” covered by the statute as “an individual who performs…
No law requires employers to offer employees severance pay upon termination. Where an employer has a severance pay plan, however, the obligation to pay severance is triggered upon a qualifying event as defined by the plan, policy or contract at issue. In most cases, employers will only pay severance in…
Prior to filing a claim of discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), or the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, a claimant is required to file a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). Title…
When providing a departing employees with severance pay, most employers require that the employee sign a separation or severance agreement, which, among other things, contains a general release of claims. The payment of severance is given in exchange for the employee’s agreement not to raise any claims against the employer. …
On February 5, 2014, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released its annual statistics on its FY 2013 activity. Among other things, the data reveals that there was a 5.7% decrease in charges received by the agency in FY 2013 as compared to FY 2012. In all, the EEOC received…
A key aspect of an employer’s defense in an employment discrimination case involves the proffer of a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for the adverse action claimed to be discriminatory by the employee. While employers defending a discrimination case are not required to prove that they acted legitimately, they are required to…
Recently, the New York City Council amended the New York City Human Rights Law to specifically require that a covered employer is specifically required to reasonably accommodate the pregnancy of an employee. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as New York state and New York City law already…
Rarely do commercials instruct the public on anything more than the nature of the products they are pushing. From time to time, however, some advertisement campaigns go the extra mile to do good and contribute to the public’s recognition of society’s own prejudices and biases. Recently, Pantene Phillipines addressed the…
Following a Senate vote earlier this week on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), proponents are bracing themselves for a tough fight in the House of Representatives. ENDA proposes to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or identity in much the same way that Title VII of the…
On June 24, 2013, the United States Supreme Court decided University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, in which the Court held that claims of retaliation must be proved using a “but for” standard as opposed to the seemingly lower “motivating factor” standard of causation. The plaintiff had argued…