Thursday, July 17, 2014
- EEOC: In the first comprehensive update since 1983, the EEOC announced that it issued Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues addressing, in part: The fact that the PDA covers not only current pregnancy, but discrimination based on past pregnancy and a woman’s potential to become pregnant; lactation as a covered pregnancy-related medical condition; the circumstances under which employers may have to provide light duty for pregnant workers; issues related to leave for pregnancy and for medical conditions related to pregnancy; the PDA’s prohibition against requiring pregnant workers who are able to do their jobs to take leave; the requirement that parental leave (which is distinct from medical leave associated with childbearing or recovering from childbirth) be provided to similarly situated men and women on the same terms; when employers may have to provide reasonable accommodations for workers with pregnancy-related impairments under the ADA and the types of accommodations that may be necessary; and best practices for employers to avoid unlawful discrimination against pregnant workers
- First Circuit: In affirming summary judgment for supervisory police officers on § 1983 claim following $11.5 million verdict against on-scene police officer involved in fatal shooting, the court held that on-scene officer’s disciplinary record of seven instances of alleged misconduct over a nearly fourteen-year period was insufficient to put supervisors on notice that he presented a “substantial,” “unusually serious,” or “grave risk” of shooting an arrestee
- First Circuit: In affirming dismissal of Rehabilitation Act employment discrimination complaint against the US Army because plaintiff did not file an administrative complaint within 15 days of his receipt of a “notice of right to file a formal complaint,” the court refused to equitably toll deadline due to plaintiff’s mental illness because he did not show that the mental disability was so severe that he was unable to engage in rational thought and deliberate decision making sufficient to pursue his claim alone or through counsel
- First Circuit: In affirming summary judgment for plaintiffs, the court held that ERISA preempted a city ordinance that demanded that bidders on municipal public works projects engage in a bona fide apprentice training program registered with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards because ERISA specifically includes apprentice training programs in its definition of employee welfare benefit plans, and a state-law mandate regarding the structure or administration of such plans falls within the ambit of ERISA’s preemption provision; but the court also held that plaintiffs were not entitled to attorney’s fees under ERISA’s fee-shifting provision, 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(1), because they were “not a participant, beneficiary, or fiduciary of any ERISA apprentice training program”
- US District Court ME: In rejecting in part Magistrate Judge’s recommended decision that summary judgment be granted on employment sex discrimination claim, the court held that plaintiff provided evidence that the actions and decisions (amount of raises and vacation time; budget scrutiny; yelling by Town Manager; move to a new office), when compared with treatment of other similarly situated personnel, correlated specifically with gender, and the weighing of inferences was for the factfinder
- Eighth Circuit: In deciding a matter of first impression in the Eighth Circuit, the court held that where a court declares a mistrial and discharges the jury which then disperses from the confines of the courtroom, the jury can no longer render, reconsider, amend, or clarify a verdict on the mistried counts
- MHRC: 2015 Commission Meeting Schedule posted