A great deal of our practice involves interfacing with federal agencies, but they’re not all the same. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the Department of Labor (DOL) are three distinct federal agencies in the United States, each with different responsibilities related
EEOC
New EEOC Guidance on Harassment: A Helpful Guidepost for Creating A Safer Workplace
In light of the recently released Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance on harassment, Texas employers should think rethink how to design and make modifications to the workplace. With the protection of employees at the forefront, this new guidance outlines over 70 examples of unlawful harassment. It also encompasses…
Karla Gilbride Appointment to the EEOC
Summary: The EEOC is tasked with the enforcement of many of the laws that ensure a fair and equitable workplace. As such, the role of who is at the helm of the agency is not small matter. Recently, Karla Gilbride has been appointed as the new General Counsel for the…
A Complicated Relationship: Covid-19 and Disability Discrimination
The Omicron variant of Covid-19 has been spreading like wildfire both among the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Contracting the new strain is causing many to have to take time off of work and out of the office (one would hope). Suppose, however, that once you labor…
What is Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies?
If a person or company breaches a contract they have, that person or company can be sued immediately in court. If someone gets in a car wreck, in theory, a lawsuit could happen the next day. Ditto if you don’t get paid minimum wage or overtime. But with employment…
EEOC Contemplates Much Needed Changes for Charge Dismissals
As a precursor to filing a lawsuit under the laws that the EEOC enforces such as Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, employees must first file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. As it stands now, the vast majority of these charges are dismissed by the EEOC. But not because these charges lack merit. The dismissal is often necessitated by a lack of resources and investigators. Often times this leaves the EEOC unable to conduct a proper investigation into the thousands of charges that are filed each year with the federal agency.
At this moment, the EEOC is on the precipice of making two major changes to the process of how the federal agency is going to handle the dismissal of charges of discrimination. These changes will include a change in the procedures in which the dismissals are processed, and they will include a change in the dismissal language contained in the right to sue letters that the EEOC issues upon the dismissal of a charge of discrimination. I will attempt to briefly outline some of the dangers and benefits of these changesContinue Reading EEOC Contemplates Much Needed Changes for Charge Dismissals
A hostile work environment claim is within the scope of an EEOC charge that alleges supervisors repeatedly and continuously made comments regarding an employee’s age, even though the Complaint adds additional facts and supervisors not included the EEOC charge.
“A claim is considered exhausted if is within the scope of the EEOC complaint and reasonably expected to grow out of a charge of discrimination. In examining a Title VII or ADEA action, the Court’s inquiry is not…limited to the exact charge [of discrimination]. The Fifth Circuit has recognized that a Title VII plaintiff is…
An employee can demonstrate pretext by producing evidence that the employer’s stated reason for termination was based, in part, on allegations contained within an employee’s complaint that forms the basis of the employee’s protected activity.
“During his deposition, [decision-maker] testified that he made the decision not to renew [employee’s] contract because ‘it came down to issues of trust.’ When explaining what issues of trust he had with [employee], [decision-maker] referenced, among other things, [employee’s] report in which she claimed he bumped into her. . . [a]ccordingly, when asked to explain…
In making a prima facie case, a time lapse under four (4) months is sufficient to satisfy the causal connection requirement needed to survive Defendant’s motion for summary judgment.
“The evidence shows that the [P]laintiff submitted a DOTD grievance form on May 24, 2011 regarding alleged improper conduct by [Supervisor] and then provided testimony to the EEOC on July 7, 2011 in connection with complaints filed by two subordinate employees…. Additionally, the evidence indicates that DOTD transferred the [P]laintiff to the Baton Rouge office…
Allegations of poor performance that arise only after an EEOC charge is filed constitutes pretext.
“The Court finds that nearly all of Defendant’s arguments that Plaintiff was fired for performance related issues are not clearly supported by an employment records…. [E]ach of Defendant’s assertions that Plaintiff was not performing adequately in her position were only asserted after she filed her Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claim.”
Zeno v. Livingston Management, Inc…