Last week, the EEOC issued new guidance on how to apply anti-discrimination laws to an applicant or employee’s request for a religious exemption from an employer’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
Continue Reading Religious Objections to Vaccine Mandates: EEOC Issues New Guidance
Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a webinar on artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. Commissioner Keith Sonderling explained that the EEOC is monitoring employers’ use of such technology in the workplace to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws.
Continue Reading Employers Beware: The EEOC is Monitoring Use of Artificial Intelligence
On September 7, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against an employer that allegedly denied accommodation for telework in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”). Currently, the case is the only lawsuit the EEOC has filed concerning a request for an ADA accommodation related to COVID-19. The suit is a challenge to the typical posture of courts that frequently consider working from home to be an unreasonable accommodation.
Continue Reading EEOC Files First COVID-19 ADA Accommodation Suit
On June 30, 2021, President Biden signed a joint resolution narrowly passed by Congress to repeal a Trump-era rule that would have increased the EEOC’s information-sharing requirements during the statutorily mandated conciliation process.
Continue Reading Trump-Era EEOC Conciliation Rule Repealed
On June 12, 2021, a federal judge sitting in the Southern District of Texas held that Houston Methodist Hospital could require its employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, dismissing the lawsuit brought by 117 plaintiffs who protested the requirement. See Bridges v. Houston Methodist Hospital, No. 4:21-cv-01774 (S.D. Tex. June 12, 2021). This opinion marks the first federal ruling on the topic of vaccine mandates, serving as an early indication of how courts may respond to the legal considerations involved in employers’ attempts to have their employees return safely to the office amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continue Reading Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Mandatory Vaccination Requirement
Employers remember the seminal Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., where the Court held that Title VII’s “because of sex” protections extend to sexual orientation and transgender status. Now, on the one-year anniversary of that influential case, the EEOC has issued guidance to clarify whether employers can segregate bathrooms by gender or sex. That question was conspicuously left unresolved in Bostock.
Continue Reading EEOC Issues LGBTQ+ Restroom Guidance On One-Year Anniversary of Bostock
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has frequently released guidance on the many employment law compliance issues that have arisen as a result of the pandemic. The latest guidance issued by the EEOC concerns whether employers may implement vaccine incentive programs to encourage employees to get vaccinated without running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Genetic Information Discrimination Act (GINA). In its May 28, 2021 Guidance, the EEOC advised employees that vaccine incentive programs are lawful under the ADA and GINA in certain circumstances.
Continue Reading EEOC Gives Okay for Employer’s Vaccine Incentive Programs in Certain Instances
Covid-19 has left employers who want their employees back in the office in a difficult position. With the pandemic still raging, many employees are fearful of returning to the office with unvaccinated peers. In order to ease their employees’ concerns and provide a safe work environment, some employers are offering incentives to get vaccinated.
Continue Reading Legal Considerations of Employer-Provided Covid-19 Vaccine Incentives
Ten U.S. senators are asking the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to hone in on employers’ use of artificial intelligence, machine-learning, and other hiring technologies that may result in discrimination.
Continue Reading Senators’ Letter to EEOC Signals Scrutiny of AI Bias
On December 16, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its COVID-19 guidance with a new section pertaining to vaccinations. The updated release—“What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws”—discusses how employers who require vaccinations should respond to an employee who is unable or unwilling to receive a COVID-19 vaccination because of a disability or sincerely held religious belief.
Continue Reading EEOC Provides Guidance Regarding COVID-19 Vaccinations