A member of the New York City Council has introduced a bill that would prohibit retaliation against workers in the private sector who do not check their email after work hours. The bill is modeled after a similar law in France that went into effect last year. “Technology has made…
This month marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination in Memphis. Dr. King went to Memphis 50 years ago to help black sanitation workers receive fair treatment in the workplace. The City of Memphis treated black sanitation workers far worse than white sanitation workers. White sanitation…
This week, Maine’s House of Representatives voted down a bill that would have slowed the rise of the minimum wage. In 2016, Maine voters approved a referendum to increase the minimum wage. The referendum calls for gradual annual increases up to $12 per hour in 2020. The bill voted down…
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and other Republican Senators have reintroduced a bill that would protect people and businesses that discriminate against LGBT people and people who have sex outside of marriage. The text of the reintroduced bill has not yet been released but the earlier version of the bill would…
This week the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill that would prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, and places of public accommodation based on a person’s transgender status. New Hampshire is the only state in New England without such protection. The bill, which passed the house 195-129, now moves…
Today, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the first lawsuit filed by the Trump administration under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, and religion. DOJ enforces Title VII against state and local government employers. The lawsuit…
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued a Texas company that fired three brothers because they had a blood disorder, hemophilia A. Hemophilia A runs through these brothers’ family and requires them to undergo expensive medical treatment if they suffer a scrape or other injury that causes bleeding.…
Most people understand that many victims of sexual harassment go through horrible emotional and psychological turmoil. However, many people do not realize that sexual harassment victims also suffer physical bodily harm due to the harassment. A recent study, for example, explains how sexual harassment can cause harm to the victim’s…
Maine legislators held a hearing this week on a bipartisan bill to explore the feasibility of an employee-financed paid family medical leave system. House Majority Leader Erin Herbig (D-Belfast) and Sen. Amy Volk (R-Scarborough) have co-sponsored the bill. Herbig and Volk previously sponsored a bill to establish an employee-financed paid…
Female corrections officers experience sexual harassment at alarming rates and many prisons illegally fail to protect them from this harassment. The Washington Post recently ran a story about this serious problem. In recent years, female corrections officers who have banded together and opposed sexual harassment have had success with legal…