On April 13, 2021, the United States and the State of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania State Police filed a joint motion to settle a 2014 sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Read More
On January 1, 2021, Colorado’s new Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (the “EPEWA” or the “Act,” SB 19-085), will prohibit employers from discriminating based on sex, including gender status, by paying less for “substantially similar work.”
Read More
The Supreme Court has decided to consider one of country’s biggest workplace law issues—whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Read More
A federal appeals court has held that false rumors about a female employee sleeping with her male boss for a promotion can subject an employer to liability under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”).
Read More
With the release of a Justice Department memo on October 5 titled “Revised Treatment of Transgender Employment Discrimination Claims,” signed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Trump administration has cast aside any uncertainty about its position of federal protections for transgender workers. Referring specifically to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, the memo asserts that federal civil rights law does not protect transgender people from discrimination at work. The memo was sent to all U.S. attorneys and the heads of all federal agencies.
Read More
This week, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employee could not bring a sex discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) and the Minnesota Human Rights Act (“MHRA”) based on alleged harm to her son. In Tovear v. Essentia Health, the plaintiff employee and her son, who was diagnosed with gender dysphoriawere was enrolled in her employer’s health insurance plan. The employer’s insurance plan categorically excluded coverage for gender reassignment services and surgeries, and accordingly denied the plaintiff’s requests that her son get coverage for medications and gender reassignment surgery. The plaintiff claimed that her employer engaged in unlawful sex discrimination by refusing to cover the requested treatment.
Read More