The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) reported on January 11, 2011 that workplace discrimination charges reached a record high of 99,922 during fiscal year 2010. Although charge filings in all types of discrimination increased, the EEOC reports that for the first time ever, the number of retaliation charges…
In May 2008, Congress enacted the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which was intended to prevent the potential misues of genetic information to discriminate against employees in connection with providing health insurance and employment. GINA prohibits discrimination on the basis of genetic information and restricts the disclosure of such information.…
Yesterday, six current and former employees filed a lawsuit against Citigroup in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that the company paid women employees less than male employees. In addition, the lawsuit claims that Citigroup is more apt to lay off qualified women instead…
A lawsuit filed by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) on September 30th, in federal court, alleges that Fox News retaliated against reporter Catherine Herridge, who had previously complained of sex and age discrimination at the cable news network. Among other things, it appears that following her complaints…
An administrative complaint was filed against Tyson Fresh Meats (“Tyson”) this week, a subsidiary of Tyson Foods Inc. The complaint alleges systemic discrimination against women in Tyson’s Illinois plant. The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) is empowered to assert the complaint based upon Executive Order…
Former Goldman Sachs employees filed a putatitve class action suit yesterday in New York alleging pervasive sex discrimination. The plaintiffs’ claims date back to 1997. At that time, it is alleged a male colleague groped one of the plaintiffs during a Goldman Sachs outing at a topless bar. Although this…
A recent Temple University finds that pay disparities between women partners and male partners at law firms are not based upon lower productivity, as traditionally believed. In fact, according to the researchers women partners are as productive as their male counterparts. Consequently, the researchers concluded that female partners may earn…
Today, Governor David Patterson signed into law, the New York Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which reflects the first sweeping domestic workers’ rights legislation in the nation. Among other things, the New York law provides for overtime pay to domestic workers, and protection against workplace discrimination and harassment based upon…
In Pucino v. Verizon Communications, Inc. (“Verizon”), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (which covers New York, Connecticut and Vermont) reversed a decision by a New York federal court granting summary judgment in favor of Verizon on a former employee’s gender-based hostile work environment claims. Joan…
On May 19, 2010, after nearly a six week trial, a New York jury awarded a record $250 million in punitive damages, the largest of its kind in a sexual discrimination case, to a class of female sales employees in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New…