The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a potentially game-changing decision earlier this month on the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on criminal background checks. The case is State of Texas v EEOC (5th Cir. 8/6/2019). An applicant rejected for employment at the Texas Department of Public Safety filed a complaint with
Race Discrimination
Caution: Just Because You Give an Employee What He Wants Does Not Mean He Won’t Sue You For It Later
By Patrick Smith on
discrimination “adverse employment action” Sixth Circuit…
Continue Reading Caution: Just Because You Give an Employee What He Wants Does Not Mean He Won’t Sue You For It Later
Similarly Situated in All Relevant Aspects
By Patrick Smith on
Very seldom is there overt evidence an employer discriminated on the basis of race, sex, disability, etc. Most of the time plaintiff employees have to prove their claim by showing they were treated less favorably than similarly situated employees who were not in the protected class. For example, if there is evidence the employer …
Implicit Bias, Disparate Impact, and Class Actions: Iowa District Court Rules in Favor of the State, but Employers Should Remain Wary.
By Patrick Smith on
Earlier this week Iowa District Court Judge Robert Blink granted judgment for the State of Iowa in a high profile class action race discrimination lawsuit. (Pippen v. State of Iowa, link here). The plaintiffs alleged that 37 departments in the State’s executive branch maintained hiring and promotion practices that had an adverse …
NAACP’s Criticism of Iowa Civil Rights Commission is Misplaced
By Patrick Smith on
Two local branches of the NAACP recently issued a report criticizing the Iowa Civil Rights Commission because of the low percentage of “probable cause” findings in discrimination complaints filed with the agency. Although the report was issued December 31, it was recently publicized in a series of three stories appearing over the course of …
Wal-Mart v. Dukes May Bar Class Action Race Discrimination Suit Against the State of Iowa
By Patrick Smith on
Wal-Mart v. Dukes, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, could derail a class action race discrimination case against the State of Iowa that has been pending since 2007 (See our posts here and here on the Wal-Mart case). The Iowa case involves 32 named plaintiffs who claim the State maintained hiring …
Should the Decision to Terminate an Employee Who Uses the “N-word” Depend Upon the Employee’s Race?
By Patrick Smith on
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently waded into this thorny subject. The case is Burlington v. News Corp., in which a white television reporter for the Fox affiliate in Philadelphia alleges he was terminated for using the “n-word”. The suit claims black employees who also had uttered the word were not even disciplined.
It all …
U of Iowa Study Shows Race Not an Important Factor in Hiring NFL Head Coaches
By Patrick Smith on
Posted in Race Discrimination
A recent study by University of Iowa economist John Solow found little evidence of racial discrimination in head coach hiring by National Football League Teams. In 2003, the NFL instituted the "Rooney Rule" to try and increase the number of racial minorities who served as head coaches. The rule required teams to interview…
Weekly Web Roundup
By Patrick Smith on
Posted in Race Discrimination
This week we are trying out a new feature on our Blog. A weekly round-up of important, interesting, practical, or funny employment law information and news posted in blogs or otherwise on the world wide web during the past week. Please contact us with any information or feedback. Here we go for the first edition:…