In a ruling issued September 3, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that an employer that follows an affirmative action plan in making an employment decision can be guilty of unlawful race discrimination. The Court’s decision in Humphries v. Pulaski County Special School District is the first in the Eighth Circuit to address
Iowa Supreme Court Issues Important Ruling on Pregnancy Discrimination
Last week the Iowa Supreme Court issued a ruling in a pregnancy discrimination case that decided three issues significant to employers and employment litigators.
The first issue in DeBoom v. Raining Rose, Inc. involved whether an employee must actually be pregnant at the time of a termination to be protected by the Iowa Civil Rights Act’s
Religious Discrimination vs. Free Speech
Late August means it’s time for the Iowa State Fair, one of the Top 100 Events in North America, home of corn dogs, the butter cow, and over one million visitors. One of the interesting side-shows at this year’s fair involved the Des Moines Regional Transit Authority (DART), an atheist 
organization, and a Christian bus driver.
Update: Religious Discrimination
Two recent cases out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (which includes Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, and North and South Dakota) serve as important reminders that employers should be alert to potential claims of religious discrimination and religion based harassment occurring in their work places:
- On July 31, the EEOC
LinkedIn and Lawsuits–Should You Be Concerned?
There is an interesting debate occurring in the legal blogosphere concerning LinkedIn, a popular business social networking site. It started with an article a couple of weeks ago in the National Law Journal, where management side lawyers were quoted giving warnings about the dangers of using LinkedIn to provide recommendations to current or
Text Harassment?
The National Law Journal reports today that text messages 
are becoming a growing liability concern for employers. Offensive and inappropriate texts are increasingly being used as evidence in sexual harassment cases. According to the article, the main culprit is male bosses sending scandalous messages to female subordinates asking them on dates or making promises
Does Your Company Wellness Plan Discriminate?
A recent study of Iowa employers revealed that 51 percent offered some type of health screening to their employees. Many companies also offer other "wellness" benefits to encourage employees to exercise and adopt healthy lifestyles. The wellness program of a prominent Des Moines employer was recently profiled in the Des Moines Register (link here
Would Justice Sotomayor be a Good Choice for Employers?
Much ink has been spilled over the last week analyzing the background and record of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the nominee to replace Justice David Souter on the United States Supreme Court. Given that the Supreme Court’s docket has included a large number of employment related cases in recent years, a record which is likely to continue given the
Human Resources Challeges for 2009
A recent post at Human Resources Executive Online, entitled "Warnings from the Top". provides an excellent overview of some of the new challenges employers have been presented since the beginning of 2009. "Like it or not" say the authors, changes are coming, and employers better be prepared.
According to several attorneys the authors
Employers Should Be Aware of H1N1 and its Impact on the Workplace
As of a couple of day ago, there were 43 reported cases of swine flu–what is now being called "H1N1"–in Iowa.
Given the continued spread of this virus, employers would be wise to develop plans to deal with H1N1 issues that could affect their employees and their workplace. The Des Moines Register published an article