A federal judge in Dallas, Texas, has approved the fee petition of plaintiff’s counsel in a discrimination and retaliation case that resulted in a $3.6 million jury verdict for the plaintiff. Law.com has the story here. The fee request was for $496,302.50, and the judge approved all but $6,375 of the request. The decision is a stark reminder of the potential cost of employment litigation and the reason why prudent employers invest in proactive measures before a charge of discrimination is filed.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.Archive for the ‘Discrimination’ Category
Judge Approves Nearly $500,000 Attorneys’ Fee Request
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010Eastern District Dismisses EEOC Suit Against Hotel
Monday, August 9th, 2010The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia recently granted a defendant’s motion for summary judgment on a national origin discrimination claim brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the defendant’s failure to re-hire certain non-Hispanic employees violated Title VII. A copy of the order is here. More after the break.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.Hooters Faces Weight Discrimination Claim
Friday, June 11th, 2010A Michigan woman has sued Hooters for “weight discrimination” in violation of the only state law in the country that provides such protection. More after the break.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.Topless Pregnant Bartender Claims Discrimination?
Monday, March 1st, 2010This interesting headline showed up today — “Bartender in Topless Bar Says She Was Discriminated Against for Being Pregnant.” New York is apparently a one-party consent state, so the bartender’s secret tape recordings of her boss telling her that a pregnant topless bartender wasn’t sexy were apparently legal.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.EEOC Issues 2009 Enforcement and Litigation Statistics
Friday, January 8th, 2010The EEOC has issued its 2009 enforcement and litigation statistics here. Total charges were down from 2008, 95,402 to 93,277. Largest percentage increases in charges were in disability and retaliation. Lawsuits filed down from 325 to 314. More after the break.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.New EEOC Enforcement Activity Against Use Of Credit History And Criminal Background In Hiring
Thursday, December 10th, 2009Workplace Prof Blog notes here that the EEOC has filed a class action suit against an employer in Dallas for the use of credit history and criminal background as selection crieria in the hiring process. The EEOC has long argued that such crieria have a disparate impact on minority groups, but apparently have increased enforcement activity in this area recently. This is a good reminder that the hiring process is a critical area to monitor for practices that potentially have a disparate impact on minority or other protected applicants — particularly hot button areas such as credit history and criminal background.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.4th Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment In Age Case
Thursday, November 19th, 2009In an unpublished opinion, the Fourth Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the defendant employer on a discrimination claim brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”). The case is Inman v. Klockner Pentaplast of America, Inc. More after the break.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) Effective November 21
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) goes into effect November 21, 2009. The Manpower Employment Blawg has a post about GINA here. Our previous posts on GINA are here and here.
UPDATE: The New York Times has a story here.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.New Discrimination Laws A Priority For Administration
Friday, November 6th, 2009According to representatives of the Justice Department, the “Employment Non-Discrimination Act” (which bars employment discrimination based on a person’s “actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity”) is a top legislative priority for the Obama Administration. The BLT has the story here.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.Sexual Orientation Discrimination Update
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009The WSJ Law Blog has a post today here on a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that recognized a claim by an effeminate homosexual man for “gender stereotyping” discrimination. The court of appeals reversed the lower court’s decision dismissing the suit, which had been brought by an effeminate, homosexual man alleging that he was discriminated against because he did not conform to a typical male stereotype. As another employment lawyer notes in the post, Congress may open the door to sexual orientation discrimination claims under Title VII in the near future, rendering this type of legal gymnastics unnecessary in order to pursue a sexual orientation discrimination claim.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.No Mixed Motive Cases Under ADEA Says U.S. Supreme Court
Thursday, June 18th, 2009The U.S. Supreme Court held today in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. that a plaintiff in a case brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) cannot use the “mixed motive” proof standard to prove their claim. A sampling of today’s blog comments are here, here and here. (We will update the post with additional blog posts or articles of interest.) More after the break.
Contributed by Eric A. Welter.Height and Weight Discrimination?
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008Overlawyered.com has the story today here on a new law passed by the City Council in Binghamton, New York, prohibiting discrimination based on height or weight. If the City Code provides a private right of action for violations, this is sure to generate some interesting litigation.
Do the local citizens understand that their tax dollars will have to fund the court system to handle lawsuits like this?
UPDATED 1.5.2009: Apparently this is an issue in India as well. Story here.
Record Number of EEOC Charges Filed in 2008
Monday, November 24th, 2008According to the EEOC’s Fiscal Year 2008 Performance and Accountability Report (here), private sector charges rose 15.2% over last year — a total of 95,402 charges. Total monetary benefits recovered were less in 2008 than the prior year. (The summary of this data is on page 6 of the report.)
Page 10 of the report summarizes four cases involving allegations of “systemic” discrimination that were resolved in FY2008.
(Hat tip to the Manpower Employment Law Blawg.)
Transgender Woman Wins Discrimination Lawsuit In D.C.
Monday, September 22nd, 2008A transgender woman has won a bench trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on her claim under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for discriminatory refusal to hire based on gender. The court’s opinion can be found here. Additional news coverage of the case can be found here, here and here.
Residents Awarded $10.9 Million For Discriminatory Denial Of Water
Friday, July 11th, 2008Although not employment related, the story about black residents in an Ohio neighborhood being awarded $10.9 million for racially discriminatory denial of their public water service is interesting. The story is here and here. What I found most interesting about the two news stories is that there is no discussion about what evidence was presented to suggest that the denial of service to this neighborhood was based on race. The stories do suggest that white residents in the county also lacked water service, according to the defendants.
