National Origin Discrimination

Disability Discrimination: Why Getting An ADA Attorney Early Is Important

Most employers understand that, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants with disabilities. However, what many employers are unaware of is a lesser-known ADA provision that prohibits discrimination...

Racial Discrimination And Retaliation: When Employers Turn a Blind Eye

The staffing firm Day & Zimmerman received an employee’s complaints about racial harassment and physical abuse and then allegedly, disregarded and retaliated against the employee by firing him. Specifically, the complaint alleged that a foreman at Day &...

Gender Discrimination: Sometimes It Just Is That Blatant

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently announced a lawsuit filed against Performance Food Group, Inc. (“PFG”), one of the nation’s largest foodservice distributors. The lawsuit alleges that PFG,and its predecessor, subsidiary, and affiliate...

Is Sexual Harassment Permissible if Directed at Both Female and Male Employees?

Does the fact that sexual harassment is directed at both female and male employees make it okay? The answer, according to the Minnesota Supreme Court, is no. In Rasmussen v. Two Harbors Fish Company, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that sexual harassment need not be...

Hostile Work Environment Claim For Conduct Between Co-Employees Outside Of Workplace? – Not Likely.

A recent U.S. District Court decision in Gillis v. Wal-Mart highlights the question of whether an employee can bring a claim against his or her employer for hostile work environment when the underlying conduct that serves as the basis for the claim occurred outside of...

Race Discrimination: Using The “N-Word,” Even Once, Can Create A Hostile Work Environment.

It should be common sense that employers, supervisors, and co-workers should not be able to use the “N-Word” while at work without some consequences being attached, but, as employment attorneys, it is the job of the members of Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm to...

Gender Discrimination: A Failure To Promote Case Hits $500k Verdict

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Ohio R.C. § 4112.02(A) it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate based on the sex of the applicant for hiring or promotion. As the United States Supreme Court held in Hunt v. Cromartie, “outright admissions of...

When Can Employers Require Disabled Employees to Undergo Medical Exams?

As an employment attorney, I often field questions from individuals regarding what their employers can legally require, once being put on notice of an employee’s disability. Many individuals wonder if their employers are allowed to obtain copies of their medical...

The FMLA and Military Leave: Calculating Hours For Eligibility Must Include Service Time

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that permits employees to take job-protected, unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons. According to the U.S. Department of Labor – Wage and Hour Division, to be eligible for FMLA leave, an employee...

Gender Discrimination: Employers Cannot Discriminate Based On Conditions That Are Strictly Limited To Women Employees

The 2010 federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), and mandates that employers of 50 or more to provide an unpaid break as well as a private area to express or pump the milk. It also prevents discrimination or...