In a recent opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, based in Chicago, Illinois, affirmed the dismissal of an employee’s retaliation and hostile work environment claims. In Smith v. Illinois Department of Transportation, the plaintiff, an...
Month: September 2019
Tamara Patterson talks about CBD and workplace drug tests
Kentuckians are hearing more and more about the health benefits of CBD products. But the use of CBD products – which contain trace amounts of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana responsible for the “high” – presents issues for employers and employees. Most...
Tips for Preventing Unequal Pay Practices
In recent posts, we covered the legal duties of Kentucky employers under state and federal law to compensate women and men equally for comparable work, noting several legal exceptions. As we explained, if a pay differential between men and women is illegal, an...
US Supreme Court arguments in trio of LGBT discrimination cases
The Supreme Court of the United States has scheduled oral argument in three cases asking whether employment discrimination on the basis of an employee’s sexual orientation and gender identity constitutes sex discrimination in violation of Title VII. In May, the 6th...
Court tosses EEOC employer guidance on use of criminal history
In 2012, the EEOC published guidelines for employers cautioning them on the use of arrest and conviction records when making hiring and other employment decisions. Since that time, if not well before, employers were advised against two practices: using arrest and...
Black worker asks U.S. Supreme Court to decide scope of Title VII
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of their race with respect to their “terms” and “conditions” of employment. David Peterson, a former employee of Linear Controls, Inc., an electrical and...