The employer then learned that the nurse was HIV-positive, and the recent disability discrimination lawsuit says that the nursing home immediately fired the nurse.
While the lawsuit was not filed in Florida, workers in all states are protected from workplace discrimination based upon a disability, or perceived disability, under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
]]> Most states, including Florida also have state laws to protect workers from employment discrimination. Last year alone, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says that it fielded 25, 742 disability discrimination claims across the United States.The recent disability bias lawsuit was filed against a nursing home provider in Tennessee. The District Director for the EEOC in that region says that, "Discharging someone simply because of a disability is illegal."
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for the violation of the ADA. The lawsuit is seeking back pay, compensatory and punitive damages in monetary relief on behalf of the fired nurse. Additionally the lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction to prevent the employer from engaging in further discriminatory practices involving qualified workers and job applicants with a disability.
The nursing home company provides on-call physician services, various types of therapy and has a licensed nursing staff for its operations.
Source: EEOC, "EEOC Sues Christian Care Center of Johnson City for Disability Discrimination," May 17, 2012
]]>The federal government estimates that 60 percent of the roughly three million migrant and seasonal farm workers across the country are undocumented immigrants. Officials estimate that 630,000 workers in the sector are female. The international rights group that conducted the recent survey says that, "sexual violence and sexual harassment experienced by farm workers is common enough that some farm worker women see these abuses as an unavoidable condition of agricultural work."
]]> Human Rights Watch is calling on Congress to enact laws to protect farm workers from sexual violence and sexual harassment in the workplace. The group also seeks the repeal of Department of Homeland Security rules that encourage local law enforcement agencies to report potential immigration law violations to the federal government. The group says that the rules discourage women from reporting rape at the hands of their employers or supervisors.The author of the recent study says that, "It's easiest for abusers to get away with sexual harassment where there's an imbalance of power, and the imbalance of power is particularly stark on farms." The study involved not only interviews of farm workers, but also included information from lawyers, law enforcement officials and members from the agricultural industries in many states, including Florida.
The report says that women who work for a labor contractor are particularly vulnerable to exposure to sexual harassment or violence compared to those workers directly employed by farmers. The human rights group conducted the study to show that the issue is one with a national scale. The authors say that they hope to "show the governmental barriers that exist to reporting these crimes and abuses. And to demonstrate it's a human rights problem."
It is important to note that Florida laws, as well as federal laws, protect workers from harassment in the workplace. The report says that migrant and seasonal workers may need specific protections
Source: Boston Globe, "Report: female farmworkers suffer sex abuse," Tracie Cone-Associated Press, May 16, 2012
]]>The worker had sufficient qualifications for the job. In fact, the disability discrimination lawsuit alleged that the man's skills as a lab technician appeared to be recognized as qualified enough to place the job applicant on the fast-track in the hiring process.
That all appeared to change when the job applicant disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Asperger's, an autism spectrum disorder. The job applicant says that soon after telling the company of his condition, he was told that the position of lab technician that he was seeking was suddenly put "on hold."
]]> Ranstad U.S. LP, the staffing company involved in the recent disability bias settlement, reportedly continued to recruit for the open lab technician position, and the man with Asperger's was never hired. Ranstad was sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act for their alleged sudden about face during the hiring process.South Florida employment discrimination attorneys know that federal anti-discrimination laws protect job applicants as well as current employees from discrimination in the workplace. The ADA makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against otherwise qualified workers, and job applicants, based upon a disability, or perceived disability.
A regional EEOC attorney in the area where the lawsuit was filed says that, "Employers must make employment decisions based on the applicant's ability to perform the duties of the job, not uninformed prejudices or irrational fears." Ranstad U.S. agreed to settle the lawsuit for monetary damages and other relief.
The significant terms the company has agreed to follow is an agreement to provide the man denied a job with an account that will give him access to the company's training center. The man will be able to choose any 10 classes, courses or other training programs available through the training center free of charge, under the disability discrimination lawsuit settlement.
Source: EEOC, "Randstad US, LP to Pay $60,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Bias Suit," May 10, 2012
]]>Among the allegations in the lawsuit are that the workers were subjected to a hostile and intimidating workplace, and that the women were kept in less favorable jobs as compared to male workers. The women say that there were denied job opportunities based upon their gender.
The lawsuit is based upon claims that the women were kept on the bottling line, which is highly visible to public tours of the distillery. In 2011, the History Channel reportedly produced a documentary about the distillery. The women claim that a management supervisor only wanted women visible on the bottling line, and the supervisor had a male worker replaced by a female for the filming. However, the women say that that incident was not isolated.
]]> The workers bringing the gender bias lawsuit say that they were kept on the bottling line, in an area where workers hand dip the bottles in wax, a signature of the famous whiskey. That area is visible for hourly tours. Less qualified male workers were allowed more favorable, and potentially more lucrative, jobs that were denied to the female employees, according to the discrimination lawsuit.In addition to less favorable work duties, the women say that they were subjected to inappropriate and sexually charged comments while working the bottling line. The women claim that when they complained about the hostile work environment, they were subjected to intimidation and retaliation. One of the workers was fired, according to the workplace discrimination and harassment lawsuit.
The terminated worker says that she was falsely accused of performing a lap dance for a co-worker, and exposing herself at the workplace. She says that she was wrongfully terminated based upon the false accusations. Other workers say the events never occurred and that management only performed a cursory investigation before wrongly firing the female worker. The alleged false accusations arose after the female worker complained to management about sex discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
The company has not yet responded in court to the recently filed lawsuit. Maker's Mark has also declined to comment publicly on the pending litigation.
Source: Indianapolis Star, "5 women sue over alleged sexual discrimination at Maker's Mark distillery," Jere Downs-Louisville Courier-Journal, May 5, 2012
]]>To date, it does not appear that the teacher has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the school district over the issue, but her case has drawn national attention. Online sources and the social media are reportedly urging the school district to reinstate the teacher to her position.
]]> The superintendent of the district has reportedly declined to discuss the issue in the media, stating that she wants the students in the school district to remain focused on learning and not to be distracted by engaging in activism. She says that there are rules for teachers and other employees in the workplace, and when those rules are broken, "there are consequences."The students had reportedly come up with the fundraising idea after the teacher presented examples of media coverage of the Martin and Zimmerman case in her eighth grade journalism and yearbook class. The middle school teacher assigned the students a project to draft a short opinion piece on the incident.
The school requires students to wear a uniform on most school days, but school rules reportedly allow students to pay $1 to wear street clothes once each month. Students in the journalism class proposed to wear hoodies on the day before school break, under the monthly street clothes rule. The teacher says that the principle of the school was on board, but the superintendent was not.
Originally, the superintendent suspended the teacher for two days, which later became a two-week suspension. The woman approached the superintendent while on suspension to ask what she had done wrong and was abruptly fired.
Source: The Detroit News, "Pontiac teacher says she was fired because of Trayvon Martin fundraiser," Josh Katzenstein, April 10, 2012
]]>The EEOC issued a press release that states that the EEOC's "companion lawsuit against the union pursues enforcement of the law against an equally important entity that we believe has perpetuated a discriminatory process." The newly filed federal lawsuit alleges that the union negotiated a racially discriminatory process for promotions of firefighters in Jacksonville that has a disparate impact on African-Americans in the promotional process.
]]> The EEOC says that the written examinations given for candidates seeking a promotion to four specified ranks have a disparate impact on black firefighters, and that the examinations are not job-related or consistent with a justified business purpose.The lawsuit says that federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination apply to the issue because the firefighters union negotiated in favor of the written examinations, despite having the knowledge that the tests have an adverse disparate impact on African-American workers.
An EEOC regional attorney based in Miami says that, "The union's insistence on maintaining the current promotional process has deprived many qualified African-Americans of promotional opportunities."
The EEOC General Counsel says that, "Labor unions are not beyond the reach of Title VII." Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides a broad range of federal protections in civil rights issues, including measures to prevent discrimination. The Act also created the EEOC to enforce laws protecting workers.
Source: EEOC, "Jacksonville Firefighters' Union Sued By EEOC for Race Discrimination," April 30, 2012
]]>The former worker says that the harassment included "inappropriate sexual gestures." The worker says in her employment discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit that she repeatedly complained to management about the hostile workplace issues, to no avail. After complaining 10 times to officials, the worker says nothing was ever done.
]]> The plaintiff reportedly had received positive performance reviews from previous supervisors at the television station each year from 2002 to 2008, before she was forced out of her position. The worker's contract was not renewed last year, and college officials reportedly admit that that decision was "somewhat" related to the harassment lawsuit.Daytona State College denies the claims, but the case may settle. The former college worker brought the claims to the Florida Commission on Human Relations, which reportedly found "'reasonable cause' to believe she was subjected to "discipline, harassment, sexual harassment and discharge based upon her sex." The finding of reasonable suspicion also addresses an element involving a potential retaliation claim, according to the lawsuit.
Two other lawsuits are to be placed before the trustees. The additional suits include a breach of contract claim and a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by three students who claim that the college had denied the deaf students "effective communication," such as sign language interpreters and auxiliary aids, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal, "Daytona State board to consider settling 3 lawsuits," Deborah Circelli, April 24, 2012
]]>The shocking twist in the allegations is that the woman offered to donate her kidney to benefit her supervisor, who reportedly returned the gesture by demoting the worker, moving her to an area of the company that created a 50 mile commute, and eventually fired the worker.
]]> The story began in 2009 when the 47-year-old single mother worked in New York as a clerical worker. The woman worked with a supervisor for many months, until the clerical worker decided to move to Florida to live and raise her two children in June 2010. The woman, however, traveled up north for a visit in September, and dropped by her former workplace. It was during that visit with her former supervisor that the clerical worker learned that her former boss was ill and needed a kidney transplant to survive.The supervisor reportedly had a potential donor lined up, but the former worker said that she would be willing to donate her own kidney if the need arose.
The young mother later decided to leave Florida and return to New York. She promptly found a job with her former place of employment and in January 2011, learned that her supervisor's kidney donor was not going to work out. The supervisor reportedly called in the employee and asked the mother of two if her offer was still open. The worker followed through for the supervisor and reportedly offered up her own kidney.
After the surgery, doctors determined that the match was not close enough and gave the kidney to another person on the waiting list, moving the supervisor up on that list. The boss reportedly received a kidney from a different donor.
The worker did not realize how much pain she would experience. She suffered from discomfort in her legs and digestive problems in addition to other pain. Nonetheless, she says that her boss pressured her to return to work soon after giving up her kidney, even while the boss remained at home in her own recovery.
The clerical worker returned to work, but after three days, she says that she felt ill and went home sick due to her recovery. The worker says the supervisor, who was still out of the office, called the worker at home and berated her for leaving work.
The worker was demoted, lost her overtime hours and was transferred to a remote part of the company that co-workers called "Siberia." The worker began to suffer anguish and consulted a psychiatrist. Later, the worker's attorneys sent a letter to the company about the unfair treatment and the worker was quickly fired after the letter arrived.
The supervisor has not made any public comment about the potential lawsuit, however, her husband says the allegations are unfounded.
The woman and her attorneys plan to file an employment discrimination lawsuit for the adverse conditions that the worker was subjected to after helping her supervisor and for the subsequent wrongful termination on the heels of the kidney donation.
Source: Fox News, "Suit: Woman fired after donating kidney to boss," New York Post, April 23, 2012
]]>A recent disability discrimination lawsuit says that the general manager told the job applicant bad news during that phone interview. The general manager reportedly said that "there is really no place for someone we cannot communicate with."
While the recent disability discrimination lawsuit has been filed against a Wendy's franchisee in Texas, South Florida employment discrimination lawyers know that he Americans with Disabilities Act applies to job applicants, as well as current employees.
]]> The ADA is intended to eliminate discriminatory practices based upon a disability at all stages of the employment process. Naturally, the job application process itself is important for disabled workers. The ADA requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified disabled workers for job applicants and employees alike, as long as any reasonable accommodation does not pose an undue hardship upon the employer.A regional EEOC attorney in the area where the disability discrimination lawsuit was filed says that the job applicant "had the work experience necessary to do the job and was prepared to contribute his solid work ethic and skills again to the food retail business, but was denied the chance to do so on irrelevant and unlawful grounds."
Source: EEOC, "Wendy's Franchisee Sued by EEOC for Disability Discrimination," April 17, 2012
]]>While Burger King is based in Miami, the lawsuit was filed against a franchisee of the company and not the company here in Florida. The franchisee in the recent sexual harassment lawsuit is located in the Pacific Northwest and operates 30 restaurants with roughly 2000 employees.
The teenage worker had landed her first job at a Burger King franchise when she was 17-years-old. She says that for nearly two years she endured relentless sexual harassment from a supervisor, according to the lawsuit. She says that her complaints to management of the franchisee went ignored. She says that what she was forced to "face at work every day was humiliating and wrong."
]]> The supervisor, who was married, reportedly subjected the girl to a barrage of sexually charged comments and unwanted touching during the young worker's tenure at the fast food restaurant. The young woman says that the married supervisor would talk to her about her virginity, request sex from her, ask that she have sex with other male workers and queried what she would charge to have sex.The franchisee recently agreed to a six figure settlement agreement and will conduct sexual harassment training at its restaurants and provide other procedures meant to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
A regional EEOC lawyer on the West Coast says that "This case involved serious allegations of sexual harassment and the failure to protect a young worker." The lawyer hopes that the settlement "will make Burger King a safer place to work at this particular location, as well as at [the franchisee's] other locations" in the Pacific Northwest.
South Florida employment discrimination and hostile workplace lawyers know that strong state and federal laws are in place to protect workers from discriminatory practices. Workplace discrimination laws, however, can be complex, and an experienced employment law attorney can help a victim of discrimination in the workplace to navigate the complex issues that can arise.
Source: EEOC, "Burger King Franchisee Settles EEOC Sexual Harassment Suit," April 17, 2012
]]>In one respect, employers are generally allowed to terminate employees, but if an employer fires a worker for reasons that violate public policy considerations or state and federal workplace discrimination laws, a worker can seek legal relief through a discrimination or wrongful termination lawsuit. Each state, including Florida, has its own workplace laws, and federal laws protect workers from discriminatory practices at work.
]]> The recently settled disability discrimination lawsuit was originally filed in September 2010 in Louisiana. The woman who was fired worked as a prevention/intervention specialist at the chemical dependency facility. The woman suffered from severe obesity and claimed that her termination was made in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.The company sought to have the case thrown out of court. The federal judge ruled against the employer, finding that sever e obesity is an impairment within the meaning of the ADA.
An expert reportedly had testified that the worker's severe obesity was not caused by some lack of character or willpower. The expert testified that the worker's obesity was the result of a physical disorder or disease.
The judge apparently did not rely on that testimony in allowing the disability discrimination lawsuit to go forward. The judge ruled, under the Fifth Circuit's interpretation of the ADA, that a disabled party does not have to prove the underlying basis of an impairment (Florida is in the Eleventh Circuit).
The court concluded that the woman's severe obesity may qualify as a disability under the ADA regardless of whether it was caused by a separate physiological disorder, contrary to the employers argument seeking dismissal of the lawsuit.
The parent company of the facility has operations in 14 states across the country and employs over 4,000 people. The company settled the lawsuit, agreeing to pay damages to the fired worker and provide other relief.
Specifically, the company will provide workers and supervisors with training on federal discrimination laws, report to the EEOC concerning any ADA complaints, name a room at the facility in honor of the fired worker and install a plaque in commemoration of her work teaching at the facility for eight years.
Source: EEOC, "Resources for Human Development Settles EEOC Disability Suit for $125,000," April 10, 2012
]]>The woman says in her recent sex discrimination lawsuit that she was told to go home from work after her supervisor learned of the protective order she had in place against her husband. She complied, but latter was told not to return to work, according to the lawsuit.
The company reportedly mailed the former manager a separation agreement, which she did not sign. A male worker was then hired to replace her as the manager of the Macy's Salon.
]]> The woman says that women seek the majority of protective orders under her state's laws. Florida law, like Pennsylvania's laws-where the recent Macy's discrimination lawsuit has been filed, allow for residents to seek protection from a person who has been abusive or has threatened the resident. Violations of such orders can lead to criminal charges against the person told to stay away by the court.The woman says in her sex discrimination lawsuit that because nearly all of the protective orders in her state are requested by women, allowing an employer to fire a worker for having a protective order against another person constitutes gender discrimination.
Macy's has reportedly not made any public comment on the pending discrimination lawsuit.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Former salon manager sues Macy's over dismissal," March 22, 2012
]]>The allegations of sexual harassment, however, included other egregious conduct at the workplace. The jury was presented evidence that co-workers refused to work with the firefighter due to her gender.
]]> After a male firefighter reportedly walked in on her as she took a shower, she says she requested a lock on the door to protect her privacy. She says that a supervisor gave her a broom emblazoned with her name to use as her "wedge" to lock the door. The married firefighter was also reportedly accused of having affairs with male firefighters. The woman says she was forced to endure personal attacks and even death threats while working for the fire department.The woman reportedly notified police in 2008 that she had received a photograph of a group of firefighters that reportedly had an "X" drawn over her face with the caption, "Next Fire Last Fire Liar." She turned the photograph over to police as evidence and reported to the authorities that she had received phone call threats and harassment from a firefighter at her home.
She also reportedly complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about the workplace harassment.
The woman sued and a jury in Miami found in her favor on her sexual harassment claim, returning a large six-figure verdict. Miami Beach says that the city is seeking to overturn, or appeal the jury verdict.
Source: Miami Herald, "Female Miami Beach firefighter awarded $700,000 in sexual harassment case," David Smiley, April 5, 2012
]]>The woman says in a recently filed workplace harassment lawsuit that BofA notified her partner's employer about the couple's sexual orientation in roughly September 2010. The partner has previously received positive feedback about her work performance and positive recommendations for work up until BofA communicated with her employer about her sexual orientation, according to court documents.
]]> Each of the partners in the lesbian couple say that they began suffering adverse treatment and were subjected to adverse employment decisions beginning in the fall of 2010. The bank employee says her supervisor abruptly changed course, became hostile and "began laying the groundwork for her termination because of her sexual orientation."The bank employee says that she complained to management at the bank of the hostile work environment, and she was fired around October 1, 2010. Meanwhile, during the same time frame, the bank employee's partner her says that a bank employee made a false complaint to the cleaning company alleging that the partner had assaulted a bank employee.
The trumped up claim arose just before the janitorial services worker was fired around October 7, 2010. In her lawsuit against the bank, the worker essentially says the trumped up claim was part of the hostile work environment and used, at least in part, as pretext for her wrongful termination. The worker says that she was terminated because of her sexual orientation.
The two women have filed a workplace discrimination lawsuit against their respective employers. Each of the companies deny the claims, although neither has yet filed an official answer in the court proceeding. The deadline to file an answer has not yet arrived.
Each of the women had received right-to-sue letters from the human rights commission in their home state prior to filing the wrongful termination and workplace discrimination lawsuit.
Source: Bangor Daily News, "Searsport lesbian couple alleges discrimination by Bank of America, cleaning company," Abigail Curtis, April 4, 2012
]]>Fort Lauderdale FMLA claims lawyers know that federal law generally provides that mid-size and larger companies must provide up to 12 weeks unpaid leave for medical reasons to workers who qualify under the law. However, the AT&T worker sought, and received, an extended paid medical leave of absence to seek interferon treatment for Hepatitis C.
]]> The medical leave was not necessarily related to any FMLA claim. The worker notes in her lawsuit, that in the absence of the treatment, her disease could eventually have been fatal.The worker obtained the finite long-term disability paid leave of absence and remained on that leave from June 24, 2010 to Oct. 24, 2010. In October, her doctor provided to positive any joyous news that the life-saving treatment had been successful. The doctor authorized the worker to return to work with no restrictions.
AT&T decided that the worker's use of the company approved medical leave violated the no-fault attendance policy. Two days after the 16-year AT&T customer service veteran came back from approved medical leave, the company fired hr for violating the attendance policy.
The EEOC says that the firing was done in violation of the reasonable accommodations provision of the ADA. The current disability discrimination lawsuit says that AT&T should have made the approved long-term medical leave exempt from its attendance policy as a reasonable accommodation for the disabled worker to seek life-saving medical treatment.
An EEOC in the district where the lawsuit has been filed says that, "The very essence of reasonable accommodation is making exceptions to hard-and-fast rules in circumstances like this when to do so causes no undue hardship to the employer - and failing to do so might cause grave harm."
Source: EEOC, "EEOC Sues AT&T for Disability Discrimination," Mar. 29, 2012
]]>