Editorial, citing ruling by arbitrator, urges Pres Obama to ensure that Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complies with its own regulations; says it has been violating Fair Labor Standards Act by forcing its employees to work overtime and not paying them for it; says its actions are another reminder of Bush administration's propensity to gut regul […]
The director of the city agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct accused other board officials of discriminating against her because she is black.
Temporary Post Used For Theme Detection (50da1786-c28e-4b2b-99cf-4e4d804fbc41 - 3bfe001a-32de-4114-a6b4-4005b770f6d7): http://wp.me/pH7tb-1c2 weeks ago
Former Operating Room Scrub Technician Receives $100,000
TULSA, Okla. — St. John Health System, Inc. of Tulsa will pay $100,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that the company violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to reasonably accommodate a hearing-impaired operating room scrub technician.
According to the EEOC’s suit, LaQuita Reherman had been employed by St. John for approximately six years when she was removed from her scrub technician position in March 2006 after several physicians complained about her being hard of hearing. Reherman wears hearing aids in both ears, the EEOC said, but would have been able to hear doctors’ instructions adequately if it were not for their practice of playing loud music in the operating room. These disturbances, coupled with her hearing impairment, caused the problems, the EEOC said.
Reherman made it known to St. John that she needed assistance in finding another position, but the hospital made no effort to assist her. The hospital simply put her in another position temporarily and then told her to find a new job in the hospital system, the EEOC said. St. John terminated Reherman in June 2006 after she proved unable to find a vacant position
On November 9, the White House announced the launch of an initiative that is designed to transform the federal government into the model employer of America’s veterans.
The Executive Order creates an interagency Council on Veterans Employment that will advise the President and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management on the veterans’ employment initiative. The Order also establishes a Veterans Employment Program office within most federal agencies. These offices will be responsible for helping veterans identify employment opportunities within those federal agencies, providing feedback to veterans about their employment application status, and helping veterans recently employed by these agencies adjust to civilian life and a workplace culture often different than military service.
See excerpt below:
President Obama Launches Major Veterans Employment Initiative
Initiative Would Transform Federal Government into Model of Veterans Employment
Washington, DC – Today, the White House announced the launch of an initiative that is designed to transform the federal government into the model employer of America’s veterans. This evening, President Obama will be joined by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry to sign an Executive Order on the Employment of Veterans in the federal government, which establishes the Veterans Employment Initiative for the Executive Branch. The Initiative underscores to federal agencies the importance of recruiting and training veterans, aims to increase the employment of veterans within the Executive Branch, and helps recently hired veterans adjust to service in a civilian capacity.
“Honoring our sacred trust with America’s veterans means doing all we can to help them find work when they come home so they never feel as if the American Dream they fought to defend is out of reach for them and their families,” said President Obama. “But this initiative is about more than repaying our debt for their courageous service and selfless sacrifice. It’s also about continuing to fill the ranks of federal employees with men and women who possess the skills, dedication, and sense of duty that Americans deserve from their public servants. And few embody those qualities like our nation’s veterans.”
A must read for all when considering the H1N1 Swine Flu Virus. Some of the questions addressed include:
How much information may an employer request from an employee who calls in sick, in order to protect the rest of its workforce when an influenza pandemic appears imminent?
When may an ADA-covered employer take the body temperature of employees during a pandemic?
Does the ADA allow employers to require employees to stay home if they have symptoms of the pandemic influenza virus?
When employees return to work, does the ADA allow employers to require doctors’ notes certifying their fitness for duty?
Happy Veteran’s Day to all my fellow veterans! For all of you who served or are serving…thank you for all you have done and are doing for our country and our way of life. We thank God for you!
Managers who are facing EEO Complaints go through a series of events and emotions including anger and resentment. The following article provides some common sense understanding and approaches to avoid retaliation and to work through the process:
Facing an EEO complaint
By GREG RINCKEY
March 10, 2009
Managers can never make all their employees happy. While feelings of surprise or betrayal are natural, you should be careful not to retaliate against the employee who files a complaint against you, especially if the issue is related to equal employment opportunity activity.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s regulations explicitly state that individuals are protected from retaliation after opposing any practice made unlawful by Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Equal Pay Act or the Rehabilitation Act, or for participating in any stage of the administrative or judicial proceedings under those statutes.
EEOC identifies the following activities as “protected” from retaliation: EEO counseling; acting as an EEO representative; speaking out against reasonably perceived discrimination; providing evidence in connection with an EEO complaint; testifying at an EEO hearing; requesting reasonable accommodation for a disability or religion; and filing an EEO complaint. Basically, if an employee is subject to disparate treatment or discriminatory harassment after taking part in one of these activities, he or she could have the basis for a reprisal claim.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is updating the Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law (EEO) notice with mandatory changes pursuant to the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). GINA will prohibit employers’ use of genetic information, restrict employers’ acquisition of genetic information, and strictly limit disclosure of genetic information. All employers with 15 or more employees will be required to update their EEO posting effective November 21, 2009
More information can be obtained by clicking below:
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations, as well as to the federal government.
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:
The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.
It is helpful for the victim to inform the harasser directly that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available.
When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, EEOC looks at the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances, and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-by-case basis.
