Now more than ever, pay and promotion issues are tremendously important to employers. Fair pay and equal work opportunities to all employees, regardless of gender, race, national origin or any other protected characteristic, is a top priority of the new administration. Signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which extended the statute of limitations for filing alleged discriminatory pay and promotion claims, was President Obama’s first legislative act as President. Recent events in Congress, including the introduction of additional legislation aimed at ensuring equal pay and advancement opportunities, paired with aggressive regulatory initiatives, are strong signals that the question is not “if” pay and promotion discrimination claims will rise, but when and how high. Our attorneys are fully prepared to help employers maneuver through the special challenges these cases present.
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In a decision issued last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit held that gender-derogatory words and conduct that are either severe or pervasive may state a claim of a hostile work environment, even when the words at issue are not directed specifically at the plaintiff. Reeves v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., 11th Cir. (en banc), No. 07-10270, January 20, 2010.
Continue Reading...The Supreme Court last week agreed to decide whether a California police department violated the privacy rights of an employee police officer by reading sexually-explicit text messages on the officer’s employer-issued pager. The case, Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Company, is on appeal from the Ninth Circuit, which ruled that in certain circumstances a public employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy in personal text messages -- even when those messages are sent on a device owned and provided by the employer. The decision is directly at odds with current employee privacy law, which generally holds that employees have no reasonable expectation of privacy in electronic communications on employer-provided electronic devices, and it adds to the list of headaches for employers adjusting to the exploding use of instant messaging in the workplace.
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