In Escriba v. Foster Poultry Farms, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal appellate court in California, held that an employee who takes leave that would qualify for protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may choose not to have that leave count as FMLA leave. Under…
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidance today regarding the rights of employees to dress and groom themselves consistently with their religious beliefs. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as well as the Maine Human Rights Act, employers must accommodate employees who, for instance, wear…
According to statistics released by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) earlier this month, disability discrimination complaints were less common nationwide than some other forms of discrimination complaints. The EEOC received more complaints of race discrimination, sex discrimination, and unlawful retaliation than complaints of disability discrimination. In contrast, the…
Matthew Barrett, a gay man from Dorchester, Massachusetts, has filed a complaint against Fontbonne Academy because he claims the Catholic school rescinded an offer to hire him as its food services director on the basis of his sexual orientation. He said that when the school learned he had a husband,…
Back in August 2012, we reported on efforts in other states to pass laws that would prohibit employers from demanding that their employees give them access to the employees’ personal email and social media accounts. This debate has now reached Maine and it has received some news coverage. Rep. Mike…
A Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) investigator has reportedly found that the City of Belfast’s Fire and Ambulance Department violated the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA) when it refused to provide reasonable accommodations to a former employee who had diabetes. The former employee, David Cobb, provided the Belfast Fire and…
Yesterday, the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) found reasonable grounds to believe that the City of Portland subjected David Tanguay, of Falmouth, to sexual harassment in violation of the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA). Mr. Tanguay, a former trash collector with the City, alleged that his female supervisor sexually harassed…
Yesterday, the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, a court based in Virginia, held that an employee was disabled under the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because of severe injuries he sustained to his legs that were temporary. The employee fell on a train platform and…
An investigator with the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has found that Pan Am Railways violated the disability discrimination provisions of the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA) when it dismissed a Skowhegan man named David Crockett. According to news reports, Pan Am sent Mr. Crockett for a mental health evaluation…
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has introduced a bill that would prohibit most employers from screening job applicants’ credit histories. Senator Warren argues that the bill, which is called the Equal Employment for All Act, is necessary because too many employers refuse to hire applicants with poor credit histories even…