Saturday, June 27, 2020
- US Supreme Court: “Today, we must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender. The answer is clear. An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.”
- EEOC: Newly released data visualizations of previously existing enforcement data includes that Maine is tied with Idaho for having the lowest number of charge receipts per 10,000 population (.5) in FY 2019; and that nationally between FY 2015 and 2019 claims for sexual harassment increased by 10.1%
- US District Court ME: Summary judgment denied on disability discrimination claim that town unlawfully required psychiatric clearance before police officer returned to a light-duty position where town’s health provider who recommended the assessment may have only contemplated the need for the assessment if the officer were returning to full duty
- US District Court ME: Magistrate Judge recommended dismissal of Maine Human Rights Act claim against owner of business because he was not plaintiff’s “employer” (i.e., no individual liability); dismissal of part of Maine Whistleblowers’ Protection Act claim that plaintiff’s refusal to follow employer’s allegedly illegal directive was a “report” of illegal activity (subject to the lesser standard of only needing a reasonable belief of illegality rather than actual illegality); denial of dismissal of other aspect of WPA claim that refusal to provide employer-requested false statement to employer was WPA-protected activity because it was actually illegal fraud or fraud on the court; and dismissal as moot of § 631 claim for late production of personnel file where § 631 only provided injunctive relief–only the Maine Department of Labor may collect the up to $500 civil forfeiture for being late
- US District Court ME: Motion for leave to implead third party without explaining reason for delay denied where doing so would cause undue delay and prejudice plaintiff
- EEOC: Updated COVID-19 guidance states that the ADA does not allow employers to require antibody testing for employees to re-enter the workplace
- MHRC: August 10, 2020, Agenda and Consent Agenda posted
