Kody Condos

by Kody Condos and JT Washington

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), the newest member of the family of federal anti-discrimination laws, is almost one year old! Instead of inviting employers over for cake and photo ops, after one year of accepting charges of discrimination under the law, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) has gifted employers with its interpretive guidelines instead. If you do not know them already, keep reading. The PWFA differs from other anti-discrimination laws in some very important ways that employers will want, and need to understand.

JT Washington

The PWFA went into effect on June 27, 2023. The EEOC’s regulations governing the PWFA go into effect on June 18, 2024. Like the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), the PWFA requires covered employers to provide qualifying employees and applicants accommodations to perform their work duties safely and without discrimination or retaliation.

This post covers key provisions of the PWFA and the EEOC’s regulations governing the law. Read more >>

Mark Wiletsky

by Mark Wiletsky

Can an employee sue under Title VII to challenge a lateral transfer, even if the transfer does not result in a loss of pay?  According to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, the answer is: Yes. Employers transfer employees, or take other actions, for a variety of reasons.  Until recently, so long as those decisions did not significantly or materially impact the employee’s terms and conditions of employment, the employee did not have a viable discrimination claim.  That standard is no longer the law of the land.  Now, if there was “some harm” as a result of a transfer or other action, and the action was based on an employee’s protected characteristic, the employee can assert a discrimination claim.

Factual Background. From 2008 through 2017, Sergeant Jatonya Clayborn Muldrow worked in a coveted position in the specialized Intelligence Division of the St. Louis Police Department. In 2017, her new commander sought to replace her with a male officer.  The new commander did not fire her; instead, he transferred Muldrow to a uniformed role in another department. Although her rank and pay remained unaltered, the responsibilities, privileges, and schedule of her new position significantly differed from her previous role. In Muldrow’s original role, she worked in a “premier position” with high-ranking officials on department priorities in the Intelligence Division.  Her new role, she claimed, was less prestigious or focused more on administrative tasks.  Muldrow supervised day-to-day activities of neigh­borhood patrol officers, including approving their arrests, reviewing their reports, and handling other administrative matters; she even did some patrol work her­self. As a result of the transfer, Muldrow lost her FBI status and the car that came with it, and she went from a regular Monday through Friday schedule to working a “rotating schedule,” including weekend shifts. Read more >>

Mark Wiletsky

by Mark Wiletsky

Question: Do employers need to provide a space for employees to worship and/or pray in the office?

Answer: The short answer is: Maybe.  Employers must reasonably accommodate employees’ sincerely held religious, ethical, or moral beliefs or practices unless doing so would impose an undue hardship.  For decades, courts held that employers could deny such requests under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if the accommodation would impose more than a “de minimis” cost or burden.  In June 2023, however, the U.S. Supreme Court “clarified” that standard.  In Groff v. DeJoy, the Supreme Court held that employers can deny requests for religious accommodation only if the accommodation would result in “substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of [an employer’s] particular business.”  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has provided similar guidance, stating that employers should not try to suppress all religious expression in the workplace. Read more >>