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On May 15, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its COVID-19-related technical guidance in response to the Biden administration’s termination of the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, 2023. The updated guidance cautions employers about their continuing obligations under the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Rehabilitation Act, and other equal employment opportunity laws. …
Continue Reading EEOC Issues Guidance Following Expiration of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

As of late, it seems we can hardly go a day without hearing about the rise of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and its potential to disrupt all manner of industries. But awareness of AI’s potential implications to our careers has only recently hit the mainstream. Many employees may be surprised to learn that a number of employers have already been using AI to make employment decisions for some time, especially in the hiring process. And the number of employers using AI in the workplace has been growing rapidly. Some employers are even using AI to make promotion decisions.
Continue Reading EEOC Issues Guidance on Use of AI in Employment Decisions

On January 10, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) published a draft of its Strategic Enforcement Plan (“SEP”) in the Federal Register, which outlines the enforcement goals for the Commission for the next four years. While the Agency aims to target a number of new areas – such as underserved workers and pregnancy fairness in the workplace – it is notable that it listed as priority number one the elimination of barriers in recruitment and hiring caused or exacerbated by employers’ use of artificial intelligence. …
Continue Reading EEOC Pushes for Greater Enforcement on AI

On August 16, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment to Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P. (Walmart), who was accused by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) of engaging in sex discrimination under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by offering temporary light duty to employees who were injured on the job, but denying a similar accommodation to pregnant employees. …
Continue Reading Excluding Pregnant Workers from Light Duty Did Not Violate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 7th Circuit Holds

The U.S. Equal Employment Commission (“EEOC”) has recently updated its Technical Assistance Questions and Answers, “What You Should Know About COVID-10 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws,” (“Q&A)  and taken the position that employers may only screen employees for COVID-19 if it is a business necessity that is justified by “current pandemic circumstances and individual workplace circumstances” because a COVID-19 viral test is a medical examination within the meaning of the ADA.
Continue Reading EEOC States Employers Must Show Business Necessity to Test Workers for COVID-19

The EEOC recently issued long awaited guidance on how an employer’s use of software, algorithms, and artificial intelligence will be treated by the Commission under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). …
Continue Reading EEOC Adopts Guidance On Use of Algorithms and AI Under the ADA For Job Applicants And Employees

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has started to take affirmative steps to include non-binary classifications on agency forms.  In an announcement last month, individuals will be able to choose a non-binary gender markers when filling out intake and charge of discrimination forms used by workers for discrimination complaints levied against employers.  On these forms, an individual will be able choose “X” for the voluntary self-identification questions and use the prefix “Mx.”…
Continue Reading EEOC Taking Steps to Include Non-Binary Classification on Forms

On March 14, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued a technical assistance document providing guidance when it comes to claims of discrimination against employees and applicants with caregiving responsibilities in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic (“Guidelines”).  The Guidelines, entitled “The COVID-19 Pandemic and Caregiver Discrimination Under Federal Employment Discrimination Laws”, examine discrimination against employees and applicants based on pandemic caregiving responsibilities, noting that such discrimination may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), Titles I and V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) or Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act), or other federal laws.
Continue Reading EEOC Provides New Guidance on COVID-19 Pandemic and Caregiver Discrimination