APPLIES TO
All Employers with Employees in LA, MS, and TX
|
EFFECTIVE
April 19, 2019 |
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
|
In O’Daniel v. Industrial Service Solutions, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal reaffirmed its position that sexual orientation is not a protected class under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, including heterosexual orientation. Specifically, “’[s]ex’ discrimination has been held to encompass discrimination based on sexual harassment or sexual stereotyping,” but does not include sexual orientation.
There, an HR manager posted to her personal Facebook account a picture of a man in a dress shopping at Target and objecting to his ability to use female facilities with the employee’s daughters. When her supervisors, one of whom is a member of the LGBTQ community, became aware of the post, they attempted to terminate her employment, but ultimately disciplined her. Subsequently, the employee claimed, in part, she was subject to discrimination and retaliation by her supervisor following the Facebook post, because she was heterosexual and she opposed discrimination on the basis of her heterosexual orientation.
The court stated that because sexual orientation is not protected under Title VII, opposing her alleged discriminatory treatment as a heterosexual was not a protected activity.
Action Items
- Have discrimination policies reviewed for consistency with this ruling.
- Subscribers can call our HR On-Call Hotline at (888) 378-2456 for further assistance.
Disclaimer: This document is designed to provide general information and guidance concerning employment-related issues. It is presented with the understanding that ManagEase is not engaged in rendering any legal opinions. If a legal opinion is needed, please contact the services of your own legal adviser.
© 2019 ManagEase
Oregon: Employers Must Remind Employees of Non-Compete Agreements on Exit
/0 Comments/in HR Alerts /by ManagEaseAPPLIES TO
All Employers with OR Employees
EFFECTIVE
January 1, 2020
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
HB 2992 makes noncompete agreements unenforceable unless the employer provides an employee with a signed copy of the agreement within 30 days after the employee’s date of termination. Presumably, “after the date of … termination” does not include the day on which termination takes place. Best practice would be to send a copy of the agreement with proof of receipt to the employee after termination, such as return receipt requested, certified mail, express mail with signature required, etc.
This requirement only applies to noncompete agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2020. Although generally a good practice, the requirement does not apply to noncompete agreements entered into before that time, or to other types of agreements like nonsolicitation agreements or garden leave clauses.
Action Items
Disclaimer: This document is designed to provide general information and guidance concerning employment-related issues. It is presented with the understanding that ManagEase is not engaged in rendering any legal opinions. If a legal opinion is needed, please contact the services of your own legal adviser.
© 2019 ManagEase
Washington: Amendment Allows Affirmative Action in Public Employment, Education, and Contracting
/0 Comments/in HR Alerts /by ManagEaseAPPLIES TO
All Public Agencies in WA
EFFECTIVE
July 27, 2019
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
The Washington State Civil Rights Act was recently amended through citizen Initiative 1000, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Act (I-1000). I-1000 adds protected categories, defines “preferential treatment” based on protected categories, and expressly permits public agencies to undertake “affirmative action.”
Read more
Washington: Equal Pay Law Expanded; Salary History Inquiries Now Prohibited
/0 Comments/in HR Alerts /by ManagEaseAPPLIES TO
Certain Employers with WA Employees, as indicated
EFFECTIVE
July 28, 2019
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
House Bill 1696 again expands Washington’s existing equal pay legislation, the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (EPOA). New amendments to the EPOA include (1) prohibiting employers from inquiring into job applicants’ prior salary history, and (2) requiring employers to provide salary range information to applicants and employees.
Read more
Washington: Non-Compete Agreements Unenforceable on Employees Earning Less than $100k
/0 Comments/in HR Alerts /by ManagEaseAPPLIES TO
All Employers with WA Employees and Independent Contractors
EFFECTIVE
January 1, 2020
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
Since 2016, a number of states have amended non-compete statutes to provide greater employee protections. Washington has followed this trend as of May 8, 2019, passing HB 1450 which establishes a minimum compensation threshold for enforcement of non-compete agreements.
Read more
Washington: Added Harassment Protections in the Hospitality and Adult Film Industries
/0 Comments/in HR Alerts /by ManagEaseAPPLIES TO
Employers of WA Employees in the Hospitality and Adult Film Industries
EFFECTIVE
As indicated
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
SB 5258 amends the Washington Law Against Discrimination to add the following requirements applicable to hotel, motel, retail, security guard entity, or property services contractor employers whose workers spend a majority of their working hours alone.
Hotel and motels with 60 or more rooms must meet these requirements by January 1, 2020. All other applicable employers must meet the requirements by January 1, 2021.
Read more
June Updates
/0 Comments/in HR Alerts /by ManagEaseAPPLIES TO
Varies
EFFECTIVE
Varies
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
Read more
EEO-1 Component 2 Reporting for 2017 AND 2018 is Due September 30, 2019
/0 Comments/in HR Alerts /by ManagEaseAPPLIES TO
All Employers subject to EEO-1 Reporting
EFFECTIVE
May 1, 2019
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued reinstatement of EEO-1 expanded data collection requirements and posted notice on its website that EEO-1 filers are required to submit Component 2 data for calendar years 2017 AND 2018 by September 30, 2019. (EEO-1 filers include employers with one hundred or more employees as well as certain contractors with more than fifty employees.) This has been an ongoing issue since the requirement to collect Component 2 data was implemented in 2016, and the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) attempt to block its implementation in 2017. As previously reported, in Nat’l Women’s Law Ctr. v. Office of Mgmt. & Budget, a federal judge in the D.C. Circuit Court stated that the OMB failed to demonstrate good cause for staying the release of the updated EEO-1 report form.
Read more
Class Action Arbitration Cannot Be Compelled Without an Express Agreement
/0 Comments/in HR Alerts /by ManagEaseAPPLIES TO
All Employers
EFFECTIVE
April 24, 2019
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
In Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, the U.S. Supreme Court recently stated that arbitration agreements must state an express agreement to arbitrate class claims between the parties; otherwise, claims brought on a class basis can be compelled to individual arbitration. There, an employee sued Lamps Plus for leaking private tax information that led to someone filing a fraudulent tax return under the name of the employee. Lamps Plus sought to compel arbitration of the employee’s claims; however, because the arbitration agreement was ambiguous about class claims, the lower courts allowed the employee’s class claims to proceed in arbitration.
Read more
NLRB: Employees Can Discuss Discipline
/0 Comments/in HR Alerts /by ManagEaseAPPLIES TO
All Employers Subject to the NLRA
EFFECTIVE
April 15, 2019
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently released an Advice Memorandum dated August 7, 2018, addressing policies prohibiting employees from publicly disparaging the employer. Specifically, a policy that prohibits employees from “engaging in conduct that could adversely affect [the employer’s] business or reputation,” including “publicly criticizing [the employer], its management, or its employees,” was a violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), because the impact on employees’ Section 7 rights outweighed the employer’s business justification for the rule. This was a blanket policy that was not narrowly tailored to avoid infringing on employee rights, i.e., “the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”
Read more
5th Circuit: Title VII Does Not Protect Sexual Orientation, Which Includes Heterosexual Orientation
/0 Comments/in HR Alerts /by ManagEaseAPPLIES TO
All Employers with Employees in LA, MS, and TX
EFFECTIVE
April 19, 2019
QUESTIONS?
Contact HR On-Call
(888) 378-2456
In O’Daniel v. Industrial Service Solutions, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal reaffirmed its position that sexual orientation is not a protected class under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, including heterosexual orientation. Specifically, “’[s]ex’ discrimination has been held to encompass discrimination based on sexual harassment or sexual stereotyping,” but does not include sexual orientation.
There, an HR manager posted to her personal Facebook account a picture of a man in a dress shopping at Target and objecting to his ability to use female facilities with the employee’s daughters. When her supervisors, one of whom is a member of the LGBTQ community, became aware of the post, they attempted to terminate her employment, but ultimately disciplined her. Subsequently, the employee claimed, in part, she was subject to discrimination and retaliation by her supervisor following the Facebook post, because she was heterosexual and she opposed discrimination on the basis of her heterosexual orientation.
The court stated that because sexual orientation is not protected under Title VII, opposing her alleged discriminatory treatment as a heterosexual was not a protected activity.
Action Items
Disclaimer: This document is designed to provide general information and guidance concerning employment-related issues. It is presented with the understanding that ManagEase is not engaged in rendering any legal opinions. If a legal opinion is needed, please contact the services of your own legal adviser.
© 2019 ManagEase