New York Employment Attorney Blog
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.
Articles Posted in Employment Discrimination
EEOC Issues Regulations Interpreting GINA
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.
Gender Discrimination Asserted Against Citigroup
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 of less-qualified men. The sexual discrimination claims raised in the lawsuit are similar to those raised against other financial institutions.
EEOC Sues Fox News for Retaliating Against Reporter Catherine Herridge
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.
Tyson Foods Inc. Subsidiary Sued by U.S. Department of Labor for Sex Discrimination
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 11246, which prohibits federal contractors like Tyson, from discriminating on the basis of sex.
Female Employees Sue Goldman Sachs for Sex Discrimination
Former Goldman Sachs employees filed a putatitve class action suit yesterday in New York alleging pervasive sex discrimination.
Report Attributes Pay Disparities Between Women and Men Partners at Law Firms to Sexual Discrimination
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 less, despite their productivity, because of intentional sexual discrimination. The report is entitled, Gender Gap in Law Firm Partner Compensation.
New York Governor David Patterson Signs Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.
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 race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, marital status and domestic victim status. The legislation specifically addresses sexual harassment, which is cited as a major problem for domestic workers in New York.
Second Circuit Clarifies Proof Necessary to Establish a Hostile Work Enviroment Claim
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.
Novartis Reaches $152 Million Dollar Settlement in Gender Bias Law Suit Filed in New York Federal Court
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 York. Last week, the parties reached a settlement agreement of the plaintiffs’ sexual discrimination claims in the sum of $152 million.