The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) recently updated its guidance regarding COVID-19-related compliance for various federal employment nondiscrimination laws. The EEOC had previously issued guidance on coronavirus compliance issues under certain laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). The revised guidance reveals that Read More

An Illinois meat processing plant, the Chicago Meat Authority Inc. (“CMA”), and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently agreed to settle a three-year-old lawsuit filed in an Illinois federal court. The agency claimed that CMA had a recurring practice where it bypassed Black job applicants for almost a decade and subjected Black employees to racial slurs and harassment. In U.S. Equal Read More

The Biden administration issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for ending certain preferential contracts with nonprofits that employ blind or seriously disabled workers. The nonprofits involved in these contracts have traditionally benefitted from a law that allows them to pay blind or seriously disabled employees less than the standard minimum wage. In addition, President Biden called for a phaseout of the program Read More

The Biden administration recently announced that the federal government would stop raiding workplaces to arrest undocumented workers. This ends the former administration’s policy, which the Biden Administration claimed was used by "exploitative employers to suppress and retaliate against workers' assertion of labor laws." This ends what U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Read More

A Maine attorney allegedly fired for taking parental leave must take his case to arbitration. A First Circuit judge decided that the language of an offer letter to the attorney required arbitration of his discrimination and wrongful termination claims. Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios LLP (“Preti”) hired Bryan O'Brien as an associate in 2017 to work at its Portland office. O’Brien alleges that the firm Read More

In a federal lawsuit filed against the National Collegiate Athletic Association, plaintiffs requested conditional certification of all student-athletes who had played for NCAA Division I schools since April 2017, along with sub-groups of students who had played at 15 other colleges and universities. More than 200,000 college student-athletes could opt-in if this request for the first stage of certification and notice Read More

The Biden administration recently announced initiatives for an expedited 90-day schedule to counteract supply shortages caused by gridlock stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. These actions represent efforts to enlist business enterprises to increase staffing and work around the clock to get goods off the ships, into warehouse distribution centers, and onto trucks and trains so that they reach consumers more Read More

A University of Idaho professor and former national defense analyst continued her fight against members of the United States Navy after they claimed sovereign immunity in a lawsuit that she filed in Maryland District Court in May 2020. Lilian Alessa sued five individuals, including Todd Boone and Edward Westfall, for harassment and retaliation. Alessa claimed that members of the Navy engaged in sexist conduct and Read More

Walgreens is the latest retail giant to raise its minimum wage for workers,increasing its starting wage to $15 an hour. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. joins several retailers in trying to retain and lure more workers with larger wages. Prior to Walgreens' announcement, chief competitor CVS Health announced it would raise its minimum hourly starting wage to $15 in July of 2022. The pandemic has caused a national labor Read More

As the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus rapidly spreads on a global scale, many international and U.S. business enterprises are reevaluating their vaccination and mask policies. One company that has decided to delay moving forward currently is internet giant Google, which postponed the date when its employees must return to the office until after January 10, 2022. Google was also one of the first Read More